You have 140 characters or less to tell me what you think. Go.

That’s the basis behind Twitter, a microblogging site that is changing the way we communicate, particularly with news in this year’s election.

Twittawhaaa?

If you haven’t checked it out, the layout is very simple. In fact, it looks a lot like a blog. For all you whippersnappers out there, you are probably already following bloggers, media organizations or random people who just love politics. The people you follow are like the people that update a blog. Their posts will show up on your feed and you have a constantly updated source of news from the people you know or media organization you trust.

Those that aren’t on Twitter, it’s not too late. In fact, if this whole description is just too confusing, don’t worry. There is this great video by The Common Craft Show that explains the basics in more detail.

Twitter for political news

Understanding how to use this tool is one thing, but getting the most out of it is the next step. This where political reporters/junkies have revolutionized the way Election ’08 is being covered. It started early this year during primary season. The New York Times highlighted political twittering in January a few weeks after John Dickerson, chief political correspondent for Slate, twittered this from his BlackBerry:

“NASHUA: Just saw Bill O’reily misbehaving at Obama rallly. Shoving Obama staffer.”

The grammar is not perfect, but that’s OK. It was just about getting this piece of news out as quickly as possible. In this instance, Dickerson was telling his audience as it happened. Compare that to the days of yore when someone had to get to a computer, type something up and send a story to an editor. Would you really want to wait on juicy piece of news like this? Of course not, but if you wanted to hear O’Reilly’s side of the story, it would have taken a little longer too. If only O’Reilly had Twitter.

Now if you want to really get interactive and cross platforms because you are now missing TV, Facebook or Myspace but loving Twitter, one reporter has put it all together: Rick Sanchez of CNN (@ricksanchezcnn). He is the first to use all of these social networks to get your feedback on the day’s top news, most of which is election-related. His show, which is airs weekdays at 2 p.m. CST, showcases all this interactive feedback while he interviews reporter at Wall Street, interviews politician’s spokespeople, and talks to you, of course. Not to mention he’s a riot.

Twittering politicians

Media organizations are not the only ones using Twitter, though. Even presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain have Twitter feeds, @BarackObama and @JohnMcCain, respectively. In fact, Obama is the most followed person on Twitter, but McCain isn’t ranked.

Several other politicians have Twitter accounts such as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (@schwarzenegger), Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams (@MichaelWilliams) and Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas (@JohnCornyn). Here is a more complete list of other politicians with Twitter accounts and there are likely many more.

Bringing it all together

One of the great things that has emerged from the constant election twittering is a Twitter election page. If you have an account, a toolbar with a link to the election page is at the top along with a list of the current hot political topics. Twitter finds names, places and things related to the election that people are twittering about the most and aggregates them onto this page. It’s brilliant. No longer do you have to guess what people are really thinking about when it comes to Obama, McCain, Joe the Plumber or last night’s debate. It is all there complied for you.

Once you are following your favorite politicians, news organization or me if you like (@mairalg), a lot more people on Street Team ’08 are out there giving their 140-character thoughts on the election. Just search “Street Team” on Twitter. We are out there.