By Robert D. Hof
In A Class Of Their Own
The microblogging service where people exchange 140-character messages called tweets as well as share Web links and media, is on its way to becoming the premier water cooler of the digital age. Some 44.5 million people visit its Web site monthly, as well as perhaps that many more who reach its services through a variety of outside software and Web services. The three-year-old San Francisco company, which is believed to be valued by its private investors at $250 million, is the key source of information and data on which dozens or even hundreds of other startups are basing their own businesses.
