Twitter gets a bad rap from people who don’t want to read what people ate for lunch.  But there are some redeeming qualities for twitter for some people:

1. Twitter is a great way to get targeted news (I like to read about Silicon Valley startup companies, so I can quickly skim through my twitter feed and get news since I follow people in that community)
2. Twitter’s brevity means I get executive summaries, and I can quickly skim them looking for something I care about
3. Twitter is less stressful than blogs (Google Reader) because twitter doesn’t tell you how many posts you’ve missed, instead it’s a constantly updating stream (so I don’t feel obligated to read every post)
4. Twitter lets me access a community separate from facebook (most people I follow on twitter are professional relationships, often people I don’t know; instead of friends)

Note:  I also like sending links I’d like to read later to readitlaterlist.com for future reading