Has Twitter Become It's Own Country?

Twitter is being brought up in conversations now a days almost as often as Pitt-Jolie, The Obama's new dog and the Jonas Brothers.

Just this past week Ellen DeGeneres got a lesson on Twitter from Diddy and now joins the ranks of other celebrities like Britney, Martha Stewart and Ashton Kutcher in the Twitter craze.

So how big is Twitter? Well according to recent stats big enough to be it's own country.

With eight million users in the U.S. alone Twitter has more residents than each of the following countries:

• Hong Kong
• Denmark
• Finland
• Norway
• Singapore
• Costa Rica
• New Zealand
• Ireland
  
• Jamaica

Growing at 33% in unique visitors in just the past month, Twitter could fly past France and Germany and be on par with Mexico by the end of the year.

So what makes it such a phenomenon? I'm sure everyone has their opinion on this but it seems to be as simple as giving people with limited time a platform in which to have a voice, share ideas and stay connected. In today's world of economic crisis, job uncertainty and information overload; Twitter is the perfect place to let off some steam and engage in dialogue "when you want to". And best of all Twitter requires you keep it "short and sweet".

So when you are thinking of where to plan your vacation this year or looking for a quick get-a-way weekend (even though the bank statement doesn't think it's a good idea) throw Twitterland into consideration with Aruba, Jamaica and the Maldives and you might be pleasantly surprised by who you meet.