Social networking really took a turn with it. Before it was things like myspace, fecesbook, etc; loads of information and that data was harvested for ads and relevant groups/friends/businesses.
Twitter came in, and now things are moving the opposite direction, short but frequent updates.
What I find amazing is how huge it's caught on. Media outlets are using that to push news/traffic/weather updates, ad agencies are using it to promote coupons and businesses.
And no, I don't use it. Fecesbook creeps me out enough as it is.
"Twitter. It's like RSS, only the feeds are about someone washing their socks and there's no further reading."