On Friday, the White House signed on to Twitter (as well as Myspace and Facebook) – the latest high profile poster on the world’s fastest growing social network.

Twitter traffic has already more than tripled in 2009.  In fact, over the past 12 months, traffic to Twitter.com has increased 27 times. Twitter is estimated to have 10 million users today, growing – if current rates continue – to as many as 100 million by the end of the year according to some estimates.

What does this phenomenon, touted by Oprah, CNN, diverse Washington, D.C. politicians and a passel of celebrities mean for fundraisers, nonprofit communicators and cause campaigners?

To the unfamiliar, Twitter not only sounds silly, it seems like a total waste of time.  But, in fact, it’s a serious form of communication and, perhaps more importantly, a search tool and grassroots trend tracking tool that’s gone from obscure to mainstream virtually overnight. Millions of individuals and thousands of causes and businesses now use Twitter, sending millions of "Tweets" a day.  Thousands more are signing daily to raise their profile and stay in touch with stakeholders.

Twitter is more about micro-blogging than true social networking.  Users send out text-based Tweets of up to 140 characters.  These updates are displayed on the user’s profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to follow them.  Most Tweets are pretty much a waste of time (they’ve been described as "emotional grunts"), as most non-Tweeters suspect.  If you’re lucky, they’re amusing, but just like Facebook updates, they’re more likely to be exponentially dull ("about to have a tuna sandwich.").

BUT… make no mistake.  With so many people reading and blogging on Twitter, it is reaching a critical mass and becoming an immensely powerful communications tool and search engine in its own right. For me it’s Twitter’s "search" and "trending topics" features that make it so interesting and potentially valuable.

On the homepage of everyone’s Twitter account are two new boxes – "Search" and "Trending Topics" that add a whole new dimension to this service.   Search.Twitter.com very quickly shows what folks are talking about on selected subjects — be it Swine Flu, Greenpeace’s latest campaigns, happenings at The New York Public Library, and yes, even fundraising or fundraising and social networking.

A click on "Trending Topics" shows the top topics that the millions of Twitter users are Tweeting about.  (As I write this, no surprise, "Swine Flu" leads the herd of topics.)

Twitter is increasingly being used not just by early adopters and marketers, but by media (newspapers, magazines, Websites) and all sorts of brands from Starbucks, Samsung, and Coca-Cola, to Greenpeace, UNHCR, and hundreds of other nonprofits.

Already this new grassroots fundraising vehicle has generated hundreds of peer-to-peer campaigns with Twitter users spontaneously raising money for causes that matter to them. Here’s one Tom posted about recently.

Of course no one understands the full implications of this yet, but it’s worth following and thinking about the issues likely to pop up in the months ahead – Twitter Spam; Giving connected to friends, but unconnected to the nonprofit itself; charity scams; etc.

Fundraiser Nancy Cole cites examples and raises good questions on her blog that should set you thinking.  One thing for sure, Twitter will no doubt play an important role in emergency funding situations for groups like the Red Cross, Project HOPE, Doctors Without Borders, CARE, World Vision, and a host of other relief organizations.

Meanwhile, if you haven’t begun familiarizing yourself with Twitter, I think you should.  And, if you have, please share your take on this latest phenomenon with The Agitator. Give us your opinion in this spot survey.

Roger

P.S.  You can follow our occasional musings, and references to timely or breaking information on Twitter at Twitter.com/DonorTrends.