I was caught in a traffic jam some time ago. I had just bought a Nexus S and was fiddling with it to pass the time, when a curious youth on a bike tapped my shoulder. “Excuse me, is it iPhone?” “No. Nexus S,” I said. He was about to ask something when the traffic started clearing. “Are you on Twitter” he asked. I nodded. “My Twitter handle is … Please follow me.” We then parted ways.

Once I reached home, I “followed” him. Within minutes, I started getting tweets from him enquiring about the price and features of the phone.

This was something new. We had met just once in a traffic jam, spoken one sentence, exchanged no phone numbers or even email addresses, but now we were friends.

After two days, he tweeted again saying he had bought the phone.

A colleague in our office couldn't reach me on the office phone, and the next option she used to contact me was not my mobile, but Twitter.

When I needed an invite for Quora, I got several responses within seconds after I tweeted my request. I accepted one response and sent DMs to others informing them I had got an invite.

Twitter has become the first choice of communication for many. “It is almost like the push-to-talk service.” (Push to Talk is a mobile chat service banned by the Indian Government)

Twitter and Facebook were also responsible to some extent for the success of Anna Hazare's fast against corruption. Though restricted to 140 characters, Twitter also doubles up as a discussion point.

There are ‘conversations' that drag on with new tweeters joining in or re-tweeting. Of course, there are fights too, with dirty linen getting washed in full global view!

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