.. you heard of a blog, now try a microblog..

twitter - www.twitter.com

What: Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question:    What are you doing?

Why: To stay connected with people by sending them a quick message or find an answer to a quick question or a thought.

How: Its like virtual staking.  You follow the people who are interesting to you for a long period of time or just for a short time. You can drop from your list at anytime. A message can be send to your cell phone (via third party APIs), by logging into your twitter account.

Examples:

1- I have noticed a lot of campus are using twitter to send out messages to students, staff, and faculty of any emergencies happening in or around campus that would affect the campus population.

2- A faculty can send a message to their students ie, test coming up dont forget your calculators!; no class tonight., etc.

3- A group of students can use it to collaborate quick ideas within the team while miles apart.