[mcdoug]

How? And what kind of people? Do you cold-call on reporters through it? Investors? People in your field? For me Twitter has always been a disappointment: cumbersome interface and a write-only mode where anything I say goes unanswered.

[lux]

I've used it mainly on project-specific things, for example reaching out to musicians, indie labels, and festivals about a music-related service. Or reaching out to other developers/startups.

It helps to follow and get to know them a bit first, too. On Twitter, you can engaging in mini conversations with just about anyone, and once you're familiar with someone you can tweet at or DM them without coming off like a cold-call. Basically, just be yourself and it works wonders.

That said, I still tend to shy away from a lot of online interactions (just look at my stunted comment history on here for example ;). Yet when I do put myself out there, I tend to be surprised at the positive response.

[thelettere]

I'm active for the same reason as lux, but I've found that the most interesting people are the least active.