I'll admit, when I was first introduced to Twitter by my employers here at Bookmans I secretly thought it was irrelevant (why do I care what everyone is thinking and doing?), narcissistic ('now I'm grocery shopping' – who cares?), childish (I pictured silly teens tweeting away, the twits) and cacophonous (so many people speaking at once!). But I'm going to admit it; I was wrong about Twitter.

Twitter is a social network, but that's only a part of what it is. I have enjoyed meeting folks I wouldn't otherwise have connected with, including the mayor, college students, local nonprofit directors, stay-at-home moms – all kinds of people. Surprisingly, the average Twitter user isn't a teenager with a bunch of piercings (nothing wrong with piercings!) but a 30-ish professional like myself.

And Twitter is great for marketing. I can let a bunch of folks know about Bookmans events, sponsorships, and other news in real time. I can direct people to websites, attach pictures and video, share other people's jokes, news, updates and answer their questions – instantly. It's this real time quality of Twitter that makes it so neat.

The coolest use of Twitter, in my opinion, is as a news service. You have probably already heard that we currently have the biggest wildfire in the U.S. raging just north of Flagstaff. Over 1000 structures have been evacuated, over 10,000 acres are burning. I live on the side of town where the fire is closest, and when I first saw the huge column of smoke from downtown Flag, I thought of my partner and one-year-old, napping away in our house nestled against the smoking mountain. Here's a picture of Ryan and I searching for info about the fire.

Using the Twitter app on my iPhone, I was able to discover, in a matter of a minute or so, that the fire was still five miles north of town, and that no neighborhoods were yet in any danger. With the help of Twitter, I was able to view the pictures, maps, and videos of the fire, and was I was able to instantly learn the location, size, evacuations, street closures and other necessary information. Since I was at the Flagstaff Music Festival all weekend in our Bookmans booth, I was able to share all this real time information with the organizer of the Music Fest, who was able to share all of it with the crowd. In a matter of minutes after the column of smoke first became visible, most of downtown Flag was updated with accurate information about the fire.

The accuracy factor is key. I choose to follow the police scanner, mayor of Flagstaff, the forest service, and the Arizona Daily Sun, among other reliable sources. I then only retweet and share information from reliable sources, and I hear instantly if a mistake has been made. It's a very democratic way to learn the truth about what is actually happening, right now. Of course, if you only follow people called "@harrystuff" or "@mamakiller" you might not have the same experience, but, with a little practice, we can all use Twitter to share the good news (summer kids' events at the Orpheum tomorrow) and the not so good (the whole mountain is on fire). Maybe I'll see you in Twitterland soon. You can find me there @bookmansflag.