One of the best description of Twitter I’ve heard yet

Chances are that if you don’t live in Canada or you aren’t big on great great literary works then you probably don’t know who Margaret Atwood is.

The fact is that she is probably one of Canada’s best and most famous authors who at the age of 70 and in support of her newest book, Year of the Flood, has discovered Twitter. At first one might think that this is just some sort of publicity type thing – you know – hey I’m famous so I’d better be on Twitter so I can be cool, when in fact it turns out she actually likes Twitter.

In an article written for The New York Review of Books she says

One follower led to another, quite literally. The numbers snowballed in an alarming way, as I scrambled to keep up with the growing horde. Soon there were 32,000—no, wait, 33,000—no, 33,500…And before you could say LMAO (“Laughing My Ass Off,” as one Twitterpal informed me), I was sucked into the Twittersphere like Alice down the rabbit hole. And here I am.

So how does she explain what Twitter is all about?

Well:

So what’s it all about, this Twitter? Is it signaling, like telegraphs? Is it Zen poetry? Is it jokes scribbled on the washroom wall? Is it John Hearts Mary carved on a tree? Let’s just say it’s communication, and communication is something human beings like to do

Like I said – one of the best; and closest, description of the service yet.

hat tip to Mathew Ingram ( a fellow Canuck ) at GigaOM