To Tweet or not to Tweet?

That seems to be the question I'm being forced to ask myself.
Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer yet another techie, time-eating attempt at book promotion
Or to take arms 'gainst a sea of silliness and by going offline, end it.

In the last few days (my apologies if you were hoping for more mangled Shakespeare), I've read in if not a horde of blogs and articles, at least a plethora of them, that Twittering (or is the verb always Tweeting?) is an indispensable tool for a writer. Somehow, telling the world your pithy, little thoughts in 140 characters will sell books. I just don't get it. The tweeter doth protest too much, methinks.

I suppose, for some writers, there could be something to it all. If one is posting actually interesting and relevant messages, as opposed to "I think I'll eat a sandwich now" and "omg, wtf? lol."

Robert Lee Brewer at Writer's Digest offers some good tips to make it more effective. ... I'm sometimes tempted to give it a go. It might prove useful. Maybe. Possibly.

But then I think, it's most likely merely yet another way to avoid working on this new novel. Which is what I should be doing right now instead of writing this blog. I read once in a book I've forgotten, "Writer's write. Everyone else makes excuses." -- Which would make a great Tweet (or is it Twit?).

So please, anyone reading this, let me know what you think. Do you use Twitter? Do you follow others? Can it help build readership, etc. or is it just another fun thing to do with your thumbs? Convince me: should I become a Twit?