Twitter is amazing. If you’ve not heard of or used it before I’d urge you to have a play.

It’s probably easiest to explain Twitter as a kind of mini-blogging tool; similar to Facebook’s status updates but without all the stuff like walls, adverts, poking and throwing sheep getting in the way ...

Once signed up you have 140 characters per update to do with as you will, and in your Twitter stream you can follow what fellow tweeters have to say. They may or may not follow you back but, as the title of this post suggests, Stephen Fry – yep, actual, real-life Stephen Fry – is following me! (As well as thousands of others, but still ...) He’s Twittering his way round the globe at the moment, making a new show called Last Chance to See which is all about endangered species. His current location: Kenya, filming white rhino. And I know this. Told you Twitter’s amazing!

Though I don’t lead as exciting a life as Mr Fry, so far through Twitter I have managed, amongst other things, to: virtually meet a whole load of interesting people; be followed by a comedy genius; tell the world what I’m having for lunch; snag some spare Book Festival tickets (Thanks Jon!) – and I’m currently in 140 character discussions about urban gardening.

Twitter – just like garlic bread before it – is the future.