Clive Thompson, a contributor to publications like The New York Times and Wired, has an excellent article in this weekend's Times Magazine covering "ambient awareness", called "I'm So Totally, Digitally Close to You".  It digs deep into the mentality and psychology behind users of digital social networks.  Get past the initial Facebook portion of the article, and you're rewarded with the most clear, articulate answer to the question, "Twitter - why?", I've ever seen in print.

Carve out 15 minutes and dig in.  If you don't use Twitter, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at what you read.  And if you do use Twitter, as I do, there's some interesting self-reflected enlightenment for you as well.