There are now over who constantly post just about anything you can imagine: links to important news, complaints about a product, design tips and inspiration, favorite new bands, family photos--you name it. These diverse nuggets are getting posted by Twitter's equally diverse share of the world's population: the general public, celebrities, politicians, authorities, marketers, customer support, and more. Fun fact: 70 percent of Twitter's usage now comes from outside the United States. If Twitter is the world's largest water cooler, its search tools are an omnipresent pair of ears that can give you an instant perspective on any topic at any time.

Twitter's popularity is due in part to how easy the company made it for users to post content. But the service's architecture, rich API, and organic culture also make it easy to mine this increasing mountain of data for just the information you need. Want to check how a product launch is going or how you're stacking up against a competitor? Need to monitor tweets about a major event? Or perhaps you want to get more personal with your customers and provide one-on-one support when they post complaints. These ideas are just scratching the surface, but a number of clients, tools, and tricks make it easy to find what you're looking for.

There are a plethora of ways to mine Twitter, but let's start with the basics at . This decidedly Google-like page offers a very simple interface. It also displays Twitter's signature list of trending topics--things that have captured the momentary attention span of Twitter users the world over.