Paull Young posted on his blog recently about how twitter can be more than just random blurbs about where people are eating or what airport they’re waiting in. He cites examples of how a twitter conversation turned into a third party agreeing to post a blog on a new blog site for a company he works with (Graco), and how a tweet from a web site follower helped them fix a link in minutes outside of office hours. Another post by Doug Haslam talks about why twitter works for business. David Armano blogs about how Zappos and Southwest are engaging with Twitter to reach out to their customers.

It’s an interesting dynamic of how companies are using social networking tools to speak to their customers. But, as David Armano points out in his post about how Zappos and Southwest are using Twitter:

If there is one thing you need to remember about this space—keep in mind that it’s never about the tools. it’s about how people use them. It’s about the interactions.

Will it be only a matter of time before Twitter becomes a series of billboard ads, or will brands be able to have an effective conversation with consumers that add value - in 140 characters or less?