I’ve recently been following John A. Byrne, the executive editor of BusinessWeek, via his Twitter feed. I then noticed a blog post in which he describes why he tweets, blogs and podcasts. His thoughts on this are particularly insightful. Sorry for the lenghty quote, here, but it’s worth a read. John gets it.
Why I Tweet:

For an old print guy, I now podcast, blog and tweet—and I can’t believe I’m using these words as verbs. But there you go. It’s a new and far more creative world out there, and I’ve not merely embraced it. Frankly, I love it.
Why? Because I deeply believe that the analog-to-digital transition allows us to practice journalism like never before. It’s not another way to distribute “content” (a word I despise because it diminishes the craft that journalism is). It’s not another medium (it’s so much more than that.) Instead, it’s a way to deeply involve and engage your audience.
That’s why I really tweet. And blog. And podcast. To get closer to everyone who is informed by the journalism we do, day in and day out. To learn from them. To understand what they want and what they need. I want our journalism to touch and influence as many people as possible because I believe there is tremendous value in what we do. No less crucial, I also believe that what we do can be vastly improved by real collaboration with you—our audience.