Before there were links, there was this TV host/author named Art Linkletter. He was famous for the phrase “kids say the darnedest things.”

They do.

My friends have a young child who has just started preschool and apparently they spend most of their time counting … so he counts everything. He told his mom he wants to count “chicken nuggies” “twains” “twattors” … whateva.

He also counts tweets — my tweets — since my funny head photo appears beside them. That’s so fun. I have a reader! He recognizes @PingWiFi on Twitter … so some mornings he says he want to count the “Tents.” That is his name for me. (It is none of my business, but maybe the school needs to spend a little less time counting and work on those verbal skills … just kidding.)

So, inspired by the fact that I have at least one devout reader, I tweet (therefore I am).

Following PingWi-Fi on Twitter?

Are you on Twitter? At first glance, I too wondered what all the fuss was about. Upon closer inspection, I learned the magic of the hashtag — the # symbol.

We called that “the number sign,” back when I was learned to tally … in the previous century … I digress.

So … once you know the secret of the hashtag — your tweets instantly can be seen by thousands … maybe millions of readers worldwide. Yes, just like Facebook, your normal status updates or “tweets” are only seen — for the most part — by your friends or “followers.”

BUT … if you put a hashtag in your tweet … Say like #Wi-Fi in my case … EVERYONE on Twitter who is following that topic will see your message on their screen.

Kinda cool huh? And don’t think the direct marketers haven’t discovered this. My spam filter runneth over.

On the upside … hashtags allow you to connect with like-minded individuals no matter what the topic … say like #Wi-Fi, #foosball, #backgammon, #cycling, #travel, #TexasTechfootball, #photography, #SXSW Festival, #TheClash, #Toyota, #Blog … Oops I think I just gave away my profile from the dating site …

Anyway … Twitter can be a blessing or a curse … depending on how it is used. I must confess that I use my tweets to build the PingWi-Fi brand, every chance I get. And according to the young scorekeeper mentioned above … that is quite often.

Hopefully, I have not reached what I call the WB level on twitter … waterboarding.

So there you have it — 30 percent of my marketing plan. And if you are one of the millions of Americans who have only recently (FINALLY) joined Facebook … you probably are not on Twitter … yet. (And FourSquare is out of the question …)

I hope this doesn’t scare you away from a great technology — social networking on overload — but below is a sampling of the most random of the random @PingWiFi tweets on Twitter.

I am the first to say it is surprising which “tweets” or comments are popular and which are not. Equally incredible … the people who become the most followed on Twitter.

For the record, I am pretty small on Twitter — but I am proud to say my followers are approaching the number of people in my hometown … (No … it is NOT Bovina … more on that later …)

Here’s what I mean. One such champion of Twitter — the guy is huge, I mean thousands of followers (in addition to his being chunky) — recently tweeted this: “Expletive … It is cold outside.”

Wow! That all you got?

Sadly, the most retweeted things usually are not original … more like a link to something someone else has written. (It’s sort of like Google or Bing for the lazy layman …Yes, I digress …)

Anyway … here’s a bit of what I got — the good, bad and the sometimes retweeted from @pingwifi in the last few weeks:

• I have cancelled my #SXSW discussion: ‘Anti-Social In A Social Media World” and frankly, I am just being difficult. 🙂
• Histweet: This day, 1996, comedian George Burns died, 100. Roastmaster Ronald Reagan salutes GB here: George Burns Video #Hollywood
• Ha! #Friskies just treated me to the “Alice In Wonderland” of all cat food commercials. If only it were in 3-D. Do cats get the munchies?
• I passed a Prius today, with the accelerator stuck. Ha .. no one noticed! #Toyota #tcot #humor #travel
• Apparently #Toyota is guilty until proven Japanese! #auto #tcot #Obama #conspiracy
• Have you ever killed two birds with one Tweet? #blog #twitter #hashtag
• I just heard that Coach Mike Leach actually made Adam James sit in a #Toyota, resulting in Texas Tech firing the coach. #TeamLeach #wreckem
• Obama tried to head off #Toyota safety issues months ago, when he so shrewdly instructed all us lemmings to inflate our tires. LOL #tcot
• @WOXY_Vintage … Which is the more unusual band name?: Was Not Was or The The? #rock
• Jenna Fischer of The Office – 35, or that is what she said. Happy B-day! Good tapioca story: Jenna Fischer Tapioca #TheOffice #Hollywood
• Happy Birthday to TV personality Willard Scott – 76. He once played Ronald McDonald: Willard Scott Link #TV #NBC
• Histweet: This day, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for the telephone. Not bad for a guy whose nickname became ‘Ma.’
• Overheard in #Starbucks: Woman finished quite pungent pasta salad, “We’re going somewhere else for a while, we can’t stand smell of coffee.”
• PinkFinale: You know The Flaming Lips released cover of entire “Dark Side of the Moon”?: Flaming Lips Thought you might.
• PingFloyd Day, trivia .. what is the football club song in “Fearless” off of Meddle LP? Winner gets Ping T-shirt. Pink Floyd Fearless
• After worst winter/snow in recorded history … I get to turn on A/C today — definitive proof of global warming .. Ha!
• How many of you know that the (in quotations) #Toyota in the first lawsuit that started the recalls … was actually a Lexus?
• Man we miss John Belushi. How ’bout one more clip of John doing a hit of Cocker? Belushi Does Cocker #SNL #rock
• Histweet: This day, 1933, Nazis won 44% of vote in German elections. Hitler later took over Volkswagen. Hitler and VW #Toyota
• Someone asked me where Bovina, Texas might be. LOL .. it is over by Muleshoe … seriously.
• & the coup de gras of McCain Brothers Day at PingWi-Fi .. HeeHaw Salute (apology – played HS sports against) McCain Bros of Bovina, HeeHaw
• Histweet: This day, 2005, Martha Stewart left federal prison (a better place) after serving five months for her role in a stock scandal.
• Histweet: This day, 1997, President Clinton barred spending federal money on human cloning. There are plenty of interns to go around. #tcot
• Histweet: This day, 1861, Republican Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office as the 16th president. #tcot
• You might be a redneck if your sentence has two heres. “I was standing here behind this door here ….” Heard on Dallas news, here.
• Old laptops don’ttttttt die. Their keyyyys stickkk and skp mportnt lettttttttrs, it seeeeems.

• HA! Maggie is now following me. She apparently wants to sell lingerie to me or anyone for that matter … and she is a very naughty girl.

• WARNING DALLAS .. I’ll be driving a Toyota today (no apologies). Good chance I will be IMing, Tweeting, and eating too. There. #humor

Not your cup of tea? Oh well, I mean how funny/insightful can you be in 140 characters (the Twitter limit)?

Know what I sayin?