Why I'm a convert to Twitter (and just about the least likely one on the planet)

Grant Schapps was monstered by respondents on this site when he posted recently about Twitter.  I rather took their side - having seen each innovation during my lifetime boost information at the expense of knowledge.

Why make it worse by Twittering?  Grant's piece - and Tim's evangelising about Twitter - provoked technophobic visions of my blackberry crashing under the weight of tweets from -

• Willam Hague announcing that canvassing weather in Grimsnipe Pogglington has never been nicer.
• Vince Cable explaining that when he said Lloyds TSB's takeover of HBOS was a good idea he hadn't meant it really.
• Paul Staines and Danny Finklestein anathemising each other as mutual berks.
• And John Prescott declaring how many times a day he visits the bathroom.

In the words of Margaret Thatcher: "No, no, no."

But I'm infinitely less resolute than Margaret Thatcher - and Tim pays my wages.  So with infinite reluctance and resentment, I decided to give this Twitter thing a go.

And it's been a revelation, because -

• You don't have to have e-mails from complete strangers sent to your blackberry - or even your desk inbox.
• This is because you can use Twitter just like any other website - and yes, it's primarily a website, not e-mail's answer to Interflora  - and log on and off when you choose.
• If, as Grant suggested, you compile a list of people you want to follow, you can simply log on whenever you like, have a look at what they're up to, and log off.  As a way of finding out what the news is, it beats websites.
• If you don't want to log on, then just say no.  (As in: if you don't want to zap TV channels, just say no.  If you don't want to buy an IPod, just say no.  If you don't want to snog Nick Clegg, just say no…)

In short, Twitter's just a quicker way of getting news which interests you - if that's what you want it to be.  I don't believe in working any harder than I gave to, so I'm simply following Tim's suggested twitter list, tweaked very slightly, and am not sending out tweets myself (at least yet).

So there you have it.  As George Orwell nearly wrote: everything is all right.  I have won the victory over myself.  I love Twitter!

Tim: can I have my pay rise now, please?