Twitter is used for many reasons. Twitter is used to reach as many people as possible in real time (as soon as it occurs). Since many people no longer take the time to watch the news or read a newspaper, Twitter is the fastest way to get that information. It, along with podcasts, are also forms of entertainment, so you get informed on the information you want to follow, are entertained by those you want to follow, and you don't have to rely on paper print or the news where you have to weed through a bunch of information you didn't want to read or see in the first place.