OK, I'm ready for your sharp retort: "You once wittered?"

After extolling the virtues of social media for some time, I've now joined the ranks of business twitterers, writes Ken Newton.

Check out the new Newton PR twitter page at (oddly enough) www.twitter.com/newtonpr

I invite you to follow me and, if you have a twitter account, I'll follow you back.

Hopefully pr news + tips already floats your comms boat and i-nspire fills your (mostly) Monday-morning sails.

Well, I now plan to tweet on PR, leadership and motivation to help keep your boat on the briny stuff and your sails aloft.

I'm sure that you know what twitter is, but just in case you need a refresher...

Twitter is a social space online that allows people to speak to each other in short messages - tweets - of up to 140 characters at a time.

It is relevant to business and PR as it's a place where multilateral conversations take place - some highly relevant to your business. Among other things, it's:

• a forum for the 'new word of mouth' - if you're over a certain size, you can be sure people are talking about your business and others are looking for the kind of product or service you provide
• an extension to your face-to-face networking
• a source of real-time feedback on your brand and trends affecting your market
• an opportunity to improve customer service and product development by responding to individual needs in a highly personalised way.

Social media networking can no longer be written off as a fad or as 'tomorrow's chip paper'. It is a continually expanding dimension of the media that is here to stay.

And no 'business twit' jokes , please!