I know I’m way behind the curve on this one, but a week or two ago I finally decided to jump into the addictive and all-consuming black hole that is Twitter. I kept avoiding it because I didn’t think it would be worthwhile for someone who doesn’t use a cell phone much, but it is turning out to be a pretty interesting blog supplement, networking tool and up-to-the-minute news ticker. It sort of merges blogging, e-mail and instant messaging into one simple yet powerful form of communication.

The catch is that you’re limited to 140 characters per message, which forces you to be somewhat succinct and a little bit creative with what you post, but it’s a lot less work than writing a full blog post or an e-mail. If you want to practice a Chuck Palahniuk-esque minimalist writing style, just get on the “Twitter diet” and you’re guaranteed to drop those pronouns in 30 days or your money back!

People seem to view Twitter as either brilliant or moronic in its simplicity, but the many Twitter-related apps out there only prove how versatile it can be (things like TwitterFeed, Sandy, TwitPic, Twitticious, etc.).

It has caught on mostly in the tech community, but it’s starting to branch out. There are plenty of interesting celebrities out there who Tweet, everyone from Obama to MC Hammer to fan-based fictional characters like Cobra Commander. I recently started to follow Henry Rollins on Twitter, and after just finishing one of his books it is cool getting an occasional dose of one-liners directly from the mind of Hank himself. (Of course, in the book, his constant cynicism and self-doubt got a bit tiring after a while, but when delivered in short 140-character snippets, it’s all quite amusing.)

The only problem I’m finding is that Twitter adds yet another layer of complexity to my daily travels around the web. Between Twitter, Facebook, del.icio.us, Flickr, Flixster, Last.FM, and my various blogs, this Web 2.0 crap is really messing me up, man.

You can follow my Twitter updates over at twitter.com/filmjunk.