I'll try to keep this brief, ha.

I agree Carey and Jean, the search feature is awkward. I think the easiest way to get connected for beginner is to connect via established profiles. My profile is at http://twitter.com/LGGE then click "Give it a Try". Register, click back on my profile to see who I am following, click on those little boxes to see profiles, and then follow any one you want that way. It feels weird because in FB it would be like Spamming Friends. Not so in Twitter. The whole idea of Twitter is to gather more followers. Jean is now "following" my doctor, no problem. I even researched the etiquette on this and it seems it's perfectly acceptable if not the norm.

As for what it can do or "getting it". Twitter is like Facebook minus all the stuff. Think of it as like a running commentary of your status (no, you don't want to give everyone a logistical outline of your day). You have 140 or less characters to play with and the whole idea is to draw people in to follow you. Easily we can get PWP together, but think of how you might raise awareness and draw non-PD people in. Carey, the whole story behind your horseback adventure could be shared in a series of Tweets and draw in many people. Rick could leave intriguing facts from his research blog to draw others in; I bet my doctor would love to see his blog and would never otherwise make it there if not for Twitter. Try to think of how others might connect to your story with the PD as an added dimension. This is a challenge.

With Twitter, unlike FB where you are only mainly visible to friends, your Tweets are public. CNN mines Tweets for news. Think of how the whole Bob with PD and the Tea Bag protest might have played out differently if we were posting our reactions, en masse...news sources could have been seeking a unique perspective from our community and one of our Tweets could have gone viral- going viral is like the Notes that were spreading like wildfire across FB. The viral version on Twitter is called a Retweet- this is where a tweet is considered so important, it keeps circulating. This is also a way to "meet" new people on Twitter you may want to follow.

Hope this helps somewhat! Here are links for guides. Here is a PDF Twitter Guide or online Tutorials.

Jean's been on Twitter for awhile and has direct connections to research centers and VIP like Katie Hood- you might want to start there to find people to "follow". Interestingly, I don't see a profile for MJF or MJFF. There is; however, a group for PWP. I am still working on joining that one.

Hope to see more of you tweeting soon!

Laura