New York Times tech columnist David Pogue admits for a long time he was “exasperated” by the hype surrounding Twitter, and felt the world didn’t need another “ego-massaging, social-networking time drain.”

But simple experience with the micro-blogging tool changed his mind and he decided to give it a shot.

In his Jan. 15 Times column, “Twittering tips for beginners,” he outlines the very basics of the tool and explains some of his good (“most tried to troubleshoot”) and bad (“people can be just as snotty on Twitter as they are everywhere else on the Internet”) experiences in his first couple months of Twittering.

His conclusion?

“In the end, my impression of Twitter was right and wrong. Twitter IS a massive time drain. It IS yet another way to procrastinate, to make the hours fly by without getting work done, to battle for online status and massage your own ego.

But it’s also a brilliant channel for breaking news, asking questions, and attaining one step of separation from public figures you admire. No other communications channel can match its capacity for real-time, person-to-person broadcasting.”