A report on Techcrunch suggests that Google is in talks to buy Twitter. I hope it’s true because a combination would make tons of sense for the companies and for users who see value in the burst-mode messaging phenomenon. It’s easy to mock Twitter, isn’t it? It’s got a silly name and it is the latest online property to be beloved of Web 2.0 obsessive types. But Twitter is coming into its own a vehicle for breaking news, updating and more. It’s very fast, very easy to use and does one thing very well. In this it resembles no other site more than Google, or at least early Google, before the rapid-fire diversification. Integrating Twitter with Google search and Apps is a painfully obvious progression. Of course, Google needn’t buy Twitter to integrate with it, but a formal combination makes it impossible for Microsoft or AN Other to come in and fork development so that Twitter becomes a component of something non-ubiquitous. Very few CIOs today are on Twitter but I expect that to change once it stops being a trendy meme and becomes part of the online toolkit, just as has happened with instant messaging, blogging, wikis, social networks and so on. If you haven’t tried it yet, sign up: it’s surprisingly addictive and you might find uses for it that you never expected. Related content Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe