Twitter has been around for years but has really taken off in the last few weeks.

The online social networking site recently stole some of the spotlight from President Obama's historic address to Congress when some members were caught "twittering" during the speech.

The premise of Twitter is very simple.

Users of the site are asked to answer the question "What are you doing?"

The answer to that question has generated over one billion responses so far.

Dozens of messages, ranging from the mundane to profound, are submitted every second from a community of users that includes over one thousand Calgarians.

Users say the ability to be connected and access information instantly are some of the big draws.

The first picture of the U-S Airways jet in the Hudson River surfaced on Twitter.

In Calgary, the Twitter community was talking about a power outage sweeping across the city.

CTV checked with Enmax and sent a message to let everyone know what was going on.

Twitter is easy to use but there is a little bit of terminology to learn.

Individual Twitter messages are called "Tweets." You only have 140 characters, so you will need to be brief and creative. Once you register at twitter.com, sending a Tweet is as simple as typing in your message and clicking update.

You can sign up to see someone's Tweets and they can sign up to see yours. This is called "Following."

"@replies" allow you to reply to someone's Tweet and all of your followers will see it too. It is like hitting "Reply All" in your email.

A "Retweet" forwards a message on to others, like forwarding an email.

"Direct messages" are messages sent directly to a fellow Twitter user. Nobody else will see them.

Twitter users are very helpful and will often give new users a few hints when they are getting started.

You can Twitter on your phone too. There are a number of programs available for download.

But anyone thinking of using their phone for Twitter should check with their phone company first.

Data charges can add up quickly and, as Twitter's own website warns, Twitter can become "highly addictive."

To follow CTV Calgary on Twitter, click here or on the attached web link.

To find out more about Twitter click here or the attached web link.

To find out more about using Twitter on your cell phone click here or the attached web link.