Twitter is one of the latest social networking sites. It's aim is simple: to update anyone who "follows" them on what they are doing at the time. (their "status"). Anyone can "follow" you and you can follow as many people as you want. The advantage of Twitter is it can link itself to your class website and blogs. In addition, you can post interesting url's, homework, and project reminders.
Twitter can also be surprisingly impersonal. Many businesses have been using Twitter to update their users on new pages on their websites without taking in personal information. Facebook, with it's ability to tag photos, wall writing, and other tools is made more for socializing. Twitter's very nature is to inform without becoming intrusive.
There are various methodologies that can be used for Twitter. The first thing is to set up a Twitter account. Try to make it as recognizable as possible--"Miss DiMauro," for example. You can also set it up to Twitter your status on your mobile phone.
Once you have set it up the possibilities are endless. Start by posting in your status the links to the homework or project your students are working on. You can set up interesting website links while students do research. You can also set up polls and quizzes. Beware, however, of pranksters trying to ruin the fun.
Make sure you only Twitter at reasonable hours and beware of using it for anything other than an educational resource. If you like Twitter for personal use, set up a separate account. Twitter works best if you update it regularly. If you decide to Twitter, try to at least update it once a day. If you have a blog, it will sometimes instantly twitter the results of the feed without you having to update it.
Twitter has disadvantages. It takes a lot of time. On the other hand, it still respects a degree of teacher-student boundaries which cannot be said for other social networking sites. The best thing is to give it a trial run before you decide to embark on this enterprise.