Are you missing out? Clearly the answer must be yes, if you're not tweeting then you're missing something. Does it matter? Well I, like you have managed without it for this long, and I guess when we ignore the next fad we'll manage without that as well.

Depends what the question is....

I have never bothered with Facebook and I was sceptical about Twitter but decided to give it a go and am pleased I did.

It is brilliant for keeping up to date on news in your chosen fields of interest. Use the search facility to find friends or people you're interested in in and opt to "follow" them, which means you'll get their updates whenever they post them. You could follow a band you like, a newspaper, a blogger, a friend, a magazine (hmm, let me think) or anything else. Depending on what you do for a living, it can be very good for industry news.

A good way to start is to find someone you're interested in and then see who they are following (or who is following them) as they're likely to be people with similar interests.

There are also lots of web-based tools you can use to search Twitter. There is also a free program called TweetDeck (and others similar) that is a convenient way of organising everything.

As for posting updates yourself, some people go for the "Just had a cheese sandwich" approach of posting the minutaie of their lives. There is also a balance to be struck between posting too much and too little. I don't mind a bit of banality but stopped following some people whose posts have been consistently dull, and also some who post every couple of minutes.

It's generally more interesting when people post their thoughts, opinions and links to interesting websites they have found.

So I would say try it. You don't have to use your real name so there is less chance of nobs contacting you. If you want to make doubly sure they don't, you can opt to "protect" your updates so only people you invite can read them, but I'm not sure you really get the best from Twitter that way.

Having liked Twitter, I have lately been thinking about finally succumbing to Facebook, but have recently read a couple of things, your post included, that have made me wonder if my first instincts to avoid it were correct. Is it worth the bother, would you say?

Got on there only a few weeks ago. It was actually really handy. We had a bereavement in the family and Facebook helped us keep track of everyone as they were making their way over here.

Twitter though, I am not sure. I am a bit worried about spending too much time "socialising" with people I don't know - at the expense of people that I do actually know.

I took the facebook plunge a week ago after having ignored it forever. With security set sensibly, I've found it an utter delight and recommend it highly.

..or as I like to call it
"As if the world gives a fuck about what YOU'RE doing"

Have to say, I'm still currently in the Shane camp.

I've spent more time on here than I normally would and I'm enjoying it, but I think any more than this would start making me buy Heat Magazine.