Everyone's tweeting about Twitter

It seems as though everyone's twittering about Twitter these days, from A-list stars like Demi Moore and Hugh Jackman to newspapers and television stations - even we're addicted!

Watch Suzi Perry telling us why she loves Twitter in our video above.

One of the reasons it's so popular is that Twitter has become an extremely useful tool networking, both socially and professionally.

Businesses and organisations from cakemakers and computer specialists to local councils and politicians use Twitter to promote things they're doing, highlight events and get user feedback on their services - even 10 Downing Street (@DowningStreet) and Barack Obama (@BarackObama) have Twitter feeds!

And while businesses are harnessing the marketing power of Twitter, celebrities are using the site to connect with their fans and keep in touch with other famous personalities.

Katie Price recently complained to Graham Norton that she barely saw husband Peter Andre because he was on Twitter all the time, while Stephen Fry has become one of the most 'followed' Twitterers of all , keeping an army of 453,852 loyal fans up to date on his incredible journeys around the world, as well as at home in London.

And it isn't just TV personalities who are dabbling in the world of social media - Channel 4 newsreader Krishnan Guru-Murthy recently read out Twitterer's reactions to Alistair Darling's new budget on Wednesday's 6 O'Clock news report.

So how does it all work? Check out our Twitter guide below:

What's Twitter then?

Twitter is a little different to the other social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.

It still allows you to connect with people and share your links and pictures, but you can only do so through posting 140-character updates about yourself and what you're doing.

You communicate with others by prefacing your replies with '@' sign in front of someone's name, so for example, if you wanted to say hello to the Shropshire Star on Twitter, you'd say 'Hello @ShropStar!'

When you use the '@' sign, it means that everyone on Twitter can see what you're saying to people, but you can still contact someone privately by sending them a 'Direct Message'.

Instead of adding friends, you can 'follow' someone - and it doesn't have to be someone you know - you can follow celebrity Twitter users like Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross to get real time updates on what they're doing, or even your local pub to find out about special offers that week.

Celebrities using Twitter include:

• Stephen Fry - @stephenfry

• Jonathan Ross - @wossy

• Holly Willoughby - @hollywills

• Demi Moore - @mrskutcher

• Richard Herring - @Herring1967

• Hugh Jackman - @RealHughJackman

• Oprah Winfrey - @oprah

• Peter Andre - @MrPeterAndre

To find us on Twitter, log on to www.twitter.com, set up a profile (it's free!) and search for us under ShropStar.

And keep an eye out for our new Twitter column, starting in Saturday's Shropshire Star, where we take a closer look at what our favourite Shropshire Twitterers are up to.

Happy Twittering!

Video and text by Lara Page