Micromedia tools such as Twitter, Plurk, and Pownce have introduced the concept of group conversations. Similar to instant messaging, Twitter allows you to send quick, short messages to hundreds of friends at once. Anyone that signs on to “follow” your Twitter profile will receive an alert—via instant message, mobile text message, or email—each time you send a new message.

How can you use services such as Twitter to build your reputation? The service is still relatively confined to early adopters, but is already showing great promise as a tool for building your brand.

Assuming that you’ve already matched your Twitter username to your personal or company brand, here are some suggestions for using Twitter to build your online reputation