I’m not particularly interested in the cult of celebrity, much to the dismay of a girlfriend who enjoys quizzing me to see if any of the week’s stories featured on Perez Hilton ring any bells…

I held this attitude toward Twitter — until recently. The industry attitude propped against the idea that “Your Company Must Be On Twitter Because It Is Important” seemed kind of bogus. Sure you can give followers some value-added through Twitter, but how much could you actually accomplish purely based on it? A burgeoning group of social scientists are undoubtedly working on answering this question, especially given recent political events which seem to be deemed Twitter revolutions, or the coffee shop owner in Abbottabad who unknowingly live-Tweeted the Navy SEALs operation against you-know-who.

I remained unconvinced about Twitter as the sole catalyst for creating a million dollar idea (unless you were the ones to start Twitter…). But that’s not to say that it is a useless tool. Obviously, it has some worthwhile social and informational purposes, foremost of which is its ability to be a real-time search engine.

A (grim) case in point. Wednesday I was headed toward Clapham Junction.

First problem, far too many people for the time of day – like most Londoners, I pride myself on timing my commute just right to roll in the office door after encountering the least amount of possible transport hassle.

Second problem —  the platform was a scrum and no trains were coming. No information on the boards apart from “DELAYED” and no guards giving out info. My next move seems silly (especially when I told my girlfriend who follows the super-useful @BBCTravelAlert) , but I Googled “Clapham Junction” only to be let down by results from Wikipedia and National Rail. No “real” information .

Twitter instantly told me the delay was due to, as transport networks often say, “a person under a train”.  Again, social scientists are probably wondering why I didn’t ask someone else standing on the platform and instead felt the need to retreat to the isolation of my iPhone and its pseudo-human information network… but anyone who has ever stood on a crowded rail platform at rush hour knows that acting humanely is the greatest sign of weakness and there’s no way you’ll be able to anonymously push and shove your way onto the next train…

This grim tale – grimness aside – has shifted my focus away from the mindless drivel floating through the Twitterverse, and I’ve begun to think how Twitter can be applied for advertisers. Imagine AddisonLee advertising cabs and arranging carpools… TFL displaying alternative routes rather than that sad dry erase board which, again, if you stop to look at, you will be seen as the weakest member of the pack…

Has my initial scepticism about Twitter been relieved? Not entirely. I still don’t think Twitter is a cure-all for a fundamentally weak product or a platform on which to build an entire business. But in Twitter’s simplicity lies some very useful information, and therefore very powerful implications which absolutely should be capitalised upon.