Internet sensation Twitter is changing the way millions of people communicate – and Redbridge is no exception. Reporter DANIEL BINNS finds out how the latest web trend is affecting people in the borough.

While some critics have dismissed Twitter as a self-indulgent waste of time, others have hailed it as a radical harbinger of change in the way people communicate.

But love it or loathe it, the popular website is changing the face of the internet.

Twitter works in a similar way to other social networking sites, such as Facebook, but the catch is users can only write one sentence at a time on their own 'page' – strictly limited to just 140 characters.

This brevity encourages friends and groups to concisely tell the world about everything from what they had for breakfast to information about the latest breaking news.

Like millions of people around the world, many residents in Redbridge have caught the twitter bug, including a stream of teachers, council staff, MPs - and young and old alike, allowing a revealed insight into many residents' lives.

Perhaps one of the most devout Twitter users in the borough is mum-of-four Helen Duffett, of St Barnabas Road in Woodford Green.

She said: "I first got into it about a year ago. As a mum at home looking after children you're not often able to listen to the radio or watch the news, but with things like Twitter you can find out what's going on with your friends and the wider world really quickly and easily.

"Of course it can't compete with a face-to-face conversations, but it can be quite addictive."

Networks of parents discussing their childrens' schools is just one way the website is changing the way people communicate in the borough.

Ms Duffett, a governor at Churchfields Juniors in South Woodford, was able to upload 'live' updates from a recent meeting about the school's rebuilding project from her mobile phone to her twitter page to keep other parents informed.

Mayor of Redbridge Cllr Thomas Chan recently signed up to the website, as a way of reaching out to the borough's more tech-savy constituents.

But Cllr Chan said: "These types of technologies are not limited to a particular group. When I did my first blog as mayor the first person to comment on the webpage was an 80-year-old.

"Twitter is like this in that it's for all ages and genders, and its immediacy can be very beneficial. I would recommend to residents, and other councillors too, that it is worth signing up."

Twitter can certainly reveal a whole range of information.

Cllr Chan's last update was to inform his followers he was going to a curry at the home of fellow councillor Dev Sharma.

And the verdict?

"It was brilliant," said Cllr Chan."I think out of all the councillors in Redbridge his curry is the best."

Ms Duffett added: "Twitter is still growing, and I'm sure something else will come along and replace it, but right now there's just nothing else quite like it."