There’s been a lot of talk lately about the ROI on Twitter. For me, that’d kind of be like trying to prove the ROI on having kids. There’s so much that’s totally immeasurable about both experiences, but at the end of the day, you know you’re better off having it/them in your life. And Twitter doesn’t wake you up in the middle of the night (at least now it doesn’t, since I figured out how to turn off that TweetDeck chirp).

If you’ve read my books, you know what my kids mean to me. The books themselves, for starters.

But what does Twitter mean to me? After a year, this much, so far:

1. New set of friends, both personal and professional. I had 20 of them turn up a book signing in Ottawa – all people I never would have met without Twitter. It was an awesome experience. I’ve met social media gurus (you know who you are), my new favourite photographer (she took the author photo for my latest book, CL Buchanan), and women and Moms who make me laugh and think every day.

2. Corporate connections. Through Twitter I’ve connected and reconnected with P.R. Agencies and corporations which have resulted in work, travel, and learning.

3. Instant sources. I write magazine and newspaper articles. When I’m not sure what questions to ask, I go to Twitterville and my inbox is instantly filled. (Celebs like Mindy Cohn and Ian D’sa of Billy Talent both loved my “from the Twitter crowd” set of questions). I need to get fun stories about camping with kids? Voila. My friends are happy I’ve found new people to bug for their anecdotes. Not to mention my own kids.

4. Laughs. I laugh every single day reading something on Twitter. And this from a person who NEVER opens an email joke. NEVER.

5. Custom Kathy News Feed. From the serious news networks to the lighter lifestyle all the way to pure personal gossip, I am in the know, all the time. First place I learned about the Haiti Earthquake, Michael Jackson dying, and that red wine drinkers gain less weight than non-red wine drinkers. No, really.

6. Grammar/spelling/edit skills. You only have 140 letters. You learn to be succinct. And if you make a spelling or grammar mistake, Tweeps are not afraid to tell ya. Love it.

7. Advice. From finding out how to treat a small medical issue to stopping kids from fighting, it’s like having a huge coffee klatch going all the time.

8. Instant Feedback. While it’s still exciting to get an email from someone commenting on my work, it’s more amazing to get a Tweet from someone saying “Your book just made me snot laugh. Right now.”

I’ve given up trying to convince other people to use Twitter. You know, the ones who say “But I don’t want to read about what people had for breakfast”. I think those of us on Twitter are in on a really big secret right now.

The ROI on Twitter doesn’t stand for Return on Investment for me. It stands for Really Owning Information. And that’s something I can keep to myself. And my Tweeps.