Twitter-pated.

Twitter chirps the future of business communication.
If you've got a child under age 12, chances are you've encountered the word "twitterpated" at some point. In Disney's classic Bambi, the wise old owl teaches Bambi, Thumper and Flower why the forest animals are acting a little strange:

Flower: [about two birds fluttering around] Well! What's the matter with them?
Thumper: Why are they acting that way?
Friend Owl: Why, don't you know? They're twitterpated.
Flower, Bambi, Thumper: Twitterpated?
Friend Owl: Yes. Nearly everybody gets twitterpated in the springtime. For example: You're walking along, minding your own business. You're looking neither to the left, nor to the right, when all of a sudden you run smack into a pretty face. Woo-woo! You begin to get weak in the knees. Your head's in a whirl. And then you feel light as a feather, and before you know it, you're walking on air. And then you know what? You're knocked for a loop, and you completely lose your head!
Thumper: Gosh, that's awful.

Of course, the forest animals are falling in love. But their antics are so strange that Bambi, Thumper and Flower swear it will never happen to them ... then, of course, it happens to them.

Today's Twitter-pation.
If you haven't checked it out yet, Twitter is a free and simple (two things that help it succeed) way to let people know what you're doing. In fact, that's exactly all there is to it. In 140 characters or less, users answer one question, "What are you doing?" Users enter anything from eating hot dogs to standing in line. Enable your mobile device and you can attach pictures of whatever is going on around you. Whatever you are doing now becomes a "tweet" (the name for your entry) on Twitter.

At first blush, I felt like Thumper. "That's never going to happen to me," I said. After all, who needs Twitter when I can just email, text or call to find out what someone is doing? Then, it happened (as you'll see on the right-hand side of this column). I'm Twitter-pated.

Why Twitter works.
You've emailed, called and sent three text messages, but the person you're trying to get in touch with just won't connect. What's going on? Technology has promised us instant access, right? Then why won't they connect? This expectation of instant connectivity can be the root cause of many communication breakdowns. And it's exactly the kind of breakdown Twitter helps us to avoid.

With Twitter, you might see that I'm in a meeting, on vacation, watching a movie, teaching a workshop, writing a blog entry, or any number of things that might keep me from connecting instantly. Instead of no reply, voice-mail or a generic "out of office" message, you get some idea of what's happening, when you might get in touch with me, or what channel might work best. And since I can update my status from my phone, it's a cinch for me to keep everyone informed.

The Twitter-enabled office.
Apply this concept to the workplace. More of us work remotely, increasing the need for consistent, quality communication. All too often this justifies a landslide of emails and a constant chatter on mobile devices. But with all this email discussion, when is there time to actually work? There isn't. So we stay late, go in early and work weekends because it's the only time we're not "communicating" that we're working.

Imagine a Twitter-enabled office. You "tweet" that you're working on an important report all day. Your colleagues understand the delay in communication. Your stakeholders know the report is on its way. Your inbox looks a little lighter than it did before? Yeah, maybe so.

The workplace aspect of Twitter has the potential to eliminate a lot of wasted email, phone calls and — most importantly — time. And as younger generations take leadership roles, expect to see it (or it's counterparts) find a place in day-to-day organizational communications.

Consider that Facebook and MySpace have similar functionality. The folks at Yahoo! mail and Gmail are considering adding similar options. The personal use of this communication method has seated itself comfortably in the minds of an entire generation. The workplace is a logical next step:

• Twitter-like features would expand the user-friendliness of Instant Messaging (IM) applications, allowing you to report that "you'll be back in three hours" instead of just noting that you're "away" or "busy".
• Incorporating this feature into the sidebar of standard business email applications could reduce server volume and wasted messages significantly.

Already there are Widgets and plug-ins for a range of software and cell phones, but at the moment Twitter appears dominated by non-work activity. As the line between personal and work space continues to blur, as more of us work remotely and email volume hits critical mass, expect Twitter (or something like it) to find a pivotal role in business communication. So as our spring-time office evolution matures to the heat of summer, don't be surprised to find yourself Twitter-pated.