Love keeping up with friends and family through instant messaging, the web, or your cell phone? Twitter is a newer service that new parents can quickly incorporate into their lives. I wrote earlier about keeping track of baby’s milestones using a simple wall calendar, but for new parents out there who are technology lovers, Parent Hacks recently pointed out that Twitter may be right up your alley.

When using Twitter, users keep in touch with friends and family by making quick and easy 140 character updates of what they are doing, also called tweets. Updates can be made from the web or a cell phone, as often as you want. Users can approve who follows all of their tweets, too.

It's a great idea for tracking baby's milestones and sharing them with loved ones. It is quick, easy, and can be done from anywhere. It is so much faster than trying to journal an entry in a baby book or keeping up a blog, which makes it that much more likely for me to do it. Friends and family across the country and around the world can easily stay up to date with all of the tweets. I am also a Facebook groupie, and it is easy to install an application that will use your most recent Twitter update as your Facebook status (search "Twitter" on Facebook to find out how).

Is your curiosity piqued? Check out these articles with more information on Twitter for parents:

• 5 Reasons New Moms Should Be on Twitter


• Using Tumblr for Tweet Backup and Safekeeping: Tumblr automatically downloads all of your updates to a blog where they will be saved for the long term.


• Family-Friendly Twitter Tips

- Sara I.