Are you new to Twitter and wondering what all the fuss is about? I’ve got you covered.

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users’ updates. (Read more at Wikipedia.) In other words, Twitter lets you post instant messages, aka tweets, for the world to read. Tweets are limited to 140 characters. It’s kinda like chatting with the world.

Your tweets show up on your Twitter profile page. Other people can find your profile page by searching Twitter (among many other ways), and if they like what they read, they can “follow you.” Similarly, you can search for like-minded people, friends, family, news-makers, etc and follow them. When you visit your home page on Twitter, you will be shown all the recent tweets of the people you follow.

Ready to get started? Let’s do it!

• Go to Twitter.com and sign up for an account. Be sure to put some basic information in your profile, including a photo (this is important on Twitter and you will see why after using it for a short time), your work, your hobbies, your web site or blog URL, and your location. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have some profile information. That info is a major factor in whether or not people “find you” through Twitter searches.
• Post some updates by typing something in the box where it says “What are you doing?” Just keep one word in mind at all times: relevancy. Keep your tweets relevant to a topic that you are passionate about. This doesn’t mean you can never tweet what you had for lunch, but try to keep the majority of your tweets useful and others will want to follow you.
• Follow, and the followers will come. Unless you are a spammer or are only using Twitter to tell the world what you had for lunch, most people will follow you back when you follow them. To find followers, go to Twitter Search and type in any keyword you want. You’ll get a list of people who have tweeted about that keyword. Click on their name or photo and visit their profile. From there you can click on “follow” if you choose to follow them. Or you can try it out by following me! Visit my profile page and click the “follow” button.
• Once you have followed some people, just log in to Twitter and you will see their updates. If you hover over any update, you’ll notice a star and an arrow to the right of the tweet. Click on the arrow to reply to that tweet and engage other users in conversation. Click on the star to save that tweet to your personal list of favorites.

Twitter has become an industry unto itself, spawning many services and apps that enhance your Twitter experience. While these services are fun and useful, my advice is to start slow. Follow the steps outlined above and get familiar with Twitter. Follow people, tweet useful content, participate in conversations, and get people to follow you. Then you might want to check out some of the following:

• Twooting Podcast: These guys are relatively new to Twitter (I’ve been twittering longer) so their advice is spot-on for newbies. And the podcast is enjoyable and informational even for more experienced users.
• TwiTip: A blog that is all about Twitter tips.
• Twellow: The Twitter Yellow Pages.
• Mr. Tweet: Helps you find like-minded Twitter users to follow.
• Twitterfeed: This site lets you set up your RSS feeds so that a tweet is posted every time you update your blog. (Note: At the time of publication, Twitterfeed.com was down for maintenance. Please try again later because it is a very useful tool.)
• Twittervision: A visual display of who is updating on Twitter. Oddly fascinating, kinda addictive, and just plain fun.
• 99 Essential Twitter Tools and Applications: When you’re really obsessed with Twitter and can’t get enough.