It all started a few weeks ago. I had recently given into the hype and begun using Twitter. I quickly became addicted to the micro-blogging platform and a bit of a zealot, trying to convert everyone I met into a user. But this isn’t about that. I’d like to focus on the day I realized how powerful the twitterverse (yes, people call it that) really is.

One evening while watching CNN I tweeted (people call it that too) about Anderson Cooper. Not 24 hours later, Anderson Cooper was following me on Twitter. Now, as of this writing he’s following 1,498 others. But what stuck with me was that he had been listening. He took the time to set up an alert. He gets it. Not many other journalists do right now. After reading his tweets, I discovered that he’s actually very funny too.

Lightning struck again this week when I tweeted a link to a thoughtful piece about Zappos that Tim Brunelle had written for talentzoo.com. The article mentioned Zappos and their innovative use of Twitter for customer service. Less than 5 hours later Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh was following me. Again, he’s listening. He’s also a voracious Twitterer. He gets it too.

Slowly the potential power of this platform is sinking into mainstream America. Comcast, of all companies, now has a dedicated staffer monitoring Twitter and blogs for complaints. They’re beginning to get it.

How about your company? Are they listening? Do they get it?