Every so often a new service or phenomenon comes along and attracts a lot of attention from curious people. Twitter is one of those services that has captivated an audience of loyal “followers” who often advocate its use and purpose. For those of you who are not familiar with what Twitter is, it is a micro blogging platform that allows people to tell the world about what is important to them at any particular moment, in 140 characters or less. People with similar interests or who find value in what your “tweet” about will follow your updates and in return you can follow another person’s update stream.

People use Twitter in a number of different ways. Some for conversation and social networking, some for business connections, some for advertising, and others as a hobby, but all in all I would say in general it is combination for most people. Regardless of how you use it, there is no doubt that Twitter has its own culture, its own vernacular, and even its own form of social classes or rankings of those who use it. You can find numerous posts about the ‘proper’ way to use Twitter, or learn about the who’s who of the Twitterverse. There is no shortage of opinions on what makes a good person to follow and what is the best way to use your Twitter stream.

Here are just a few blog posts about these topics:
25 Traits of Twitter Folks I Admire and 25 Folks Who Have Them/
Which Twitter Personality are You
What’s Your Twitter Type
Or you could always do a search in Google for “Twitter Tips” or something similar to find numerous posts on how to use Twitter.

I myself am a frequent Twitter user - @juliadalton, and as I come in contact with more and more people, I observe how different people Tweet. And even though there is an abundance of personal opinions out there already, I am going to add my own observations in the mix. Here is a short list of the various “Twitter-types” that I have come across in my short experience using Twitter.

1. 1. The spammer - this group is usually pretty easy to spot. They usually have no followers or very few, but follow 30,000 people. They can either have one update, or their updates are full of spam tweets.
2. The self-promoter/advertiser - With this group there is a spectrum. At one end, there are those who are full of automated tweets that always point to the same site or handful of sites, often with completely redundant messaging. No conversation, all automation. The other end has those who make minimal attempts at conversation, but their end game is promotion. With every reply or every conversation they engage in, their end goal is to point you to their site or product.
3. The recycler - This group’s Twitter stream consists mostly of re-tweets, i.e. copy and pasting an update from someone else and posting it within your update.
4. The dabbler - This person’s updates are sporadic and often come in bursts. They are full adopters of Twitter just yet, but on ocassion they hop on and post a few updates and disappear once again.
5. The conversationalist - As one would guess, this person’s tweet stream is full of @ replies to anyone and everyone. They spend the majority of their time conversing with others, often with numerous people at once.
6. The sage - this is the group that uses their Twitter stream to impart wisdom and share their views on a variety of subjects. This could include business tips, marketing advice, political discussion, and so much more.

I know there are a few more that I am missing, but frankly I am little tired of writing this post. I believe a good majority of people are some mixture of the above, depending on the subject and situation.

What are your favorite or least favorite Twitter types? Who did I miss?