Twitter is eight tomorrow. Its my favourite form of social media because it is, ad products aside, truly democratic and social. In the last week or so I asked my network to share favourite moments from Twitter in recent years, and reasons for tweeting.

I should have known that the response would be enthusiastic and noisy. It included business development, connecting and conversation, job hunting, news, research and much more.

I've included a selection of the responses below. Thanks to everyone that joined in the conversation and apologies if I have omitted your response.

If you don't use Twitter there'll almost certainly be a reason that you should based on these responses. In fact you might want to print out this web page and share it with Twitter deniers.

Em Murphy-Wearmouth's tweet is one of my favourite ever.

Twitter has 200 million active users, or thereabouts. It has a market capitalisation of around $30 billion but let's not forget it has still to make a profit (net loss of $511 million Q4 2013) and continues to build an ad-funded business model.

We'll find out in the next eight years whether its successful. In the meantime happy birthday Twitter.

Your best bits

@wadds best bit was moving to Oz and integrating quickly to my industry entirely because of twitter. Oh and finding husband.

— Em Murphy-Wearmouth (@EmVicW) March 14, 2014

@wadds My most fascinating experience was the live tweeting during the Raoul Moat standoff in Rothbury. Breaking news had changed!!! — Angela Carrington (@thisisthebigpic) March 14, 2014

@wadds How it helped connect people following Boston Marathan bombing. Worst: Lord McAlpine rumours. Use it for all sorts, incl fundraising — Sarah Hall (@Hallmeister) March 14, 2014

@wadds Lord McAlpine ref: moment that represented threat to an innocent man but also to thousands who had no idea they were breaking the law — Sarah Hall (@Hallmeister) March 14, 2014

@wadds Faves: Olympics ceremony, funny #tag games, Arab Spring, save 6music, getting a job via Twitter, Giggs scandal, @danbarker goes viral — Adam Cranfield (@adamcranfield) March 14, 2014

@wadds It was that time that @EamonnHolmes told me to piss off. — markpinsent (@markpinsent) March 14, 2014

#1 Conversation

@wadds I run Teawitter a teaparty for people on twitter. It's a really great tweet up, great atmosphere helped by copius amounts of cake! — Trix Regis (@Beks78) March 16, 2014

@wadds It's my primary means of keeping up to date, and of discovery. Odd to think I'd never have met many people/gone to places without it. — Sharon O'Dea (@sharonodea) March 14, 2014

@wadds twitter has introduced me to so many people in#northumberland since moving here and my new life here is because of those connections — PootleNorthumberland (@PootleNorth) March 14, 2014

#2 Business development

@wadds Dipped my toe in the water in 2009 for fun. Quickly had recommendations so kept going. It gave @ProfImages a MASSIVE boost. #loveit — Simon Apps (@simonapps) March 14, 2014

@wadds I use to promote our business & communicate a bit more of my personality than LinkedIn etiquette allows - I could do better though? — Paul Barron (@PaulBarronEO) March 16, 2014

@wadds Business-wise, I truly build my business on Twitter. Can't imagine life without it now :-) — Angela Carrington (@thisisthebigpic) March 14, 2014

#3 Job hunting

@wadds so far, Twitter landed me two jobs, some true friends and countless good connections in three cities and two continents #twitterbday — Serena Mariani (@social_serena) March 14, 2014

#4 Building networks

@wadds For me it's opened up undreamed-of opportunities to connect with people. I'd say it's the most powerful networking tool in the world! — Damian Corbet (@Damian_Corbet) March 14, 2014

@wadds News. Networking (both for work & play). Finding out about random stuff. Eg people's opinions/'reviews' of opera I went to last night — Sarra Mander (@SarraMander) March 14, 2014

@wadds best bit of twitter: getting to know and building relationships with people may never meet; some lead to biz — Northern Lights PR (@nlightspr) March 14, 2014

@wadds I love Twitter because it's much faster-paced than other social networks. Also very useful for finding people, news and information. — Matt Reilly (@_MattReilly) March 14, 2014

@wadds @AsifChoudry To learn and to network - because in-person events are hard to get to and never have this reach. — Clare Haynes (@WildfireSpark) March 16, 2014

@wadds before I joined my colleague said, "Facebook makes you dislike the people you know, and Twitter makes you like people you don't know" — Alicia Custis (@AliciaCustis) March 16, 2014

@wadds serendipitous content, niche insight, community building + borderless comms — Scott Guthrie (@sabguthrie) March 16, 2014

#5 Information sharing

@wadds Warning and informing - and helping public have their say on our service - http://t.co/M5EhOWrpam has lots of our examples :-) — Sam Thomas (@samontheweb) March 16, 2014

@wadds professionally: to help us get important info to people quickly & as a result, support / deliver the work of our organisation. — Bridget Aherne (@BridgetAherne) March 16, 2014

#6 News

@wadds it's the ultimate instant news feed. People talk about the mood of the nation, well you get the world's view on topics in a click — Craig Noonan (@cwjnoonan) March 16, 2014

@wadds I use it to keep up to date with the news. — Viv Butcher (@supermammio) March 16, 2014

#7 Listening

@wadds I use it mainly as a listening tool - it's an echo chamber for marketers, journos and techies in the Czech Republic. — Honza Felt (@honzafelt) March 14, 2014

@wadds it's like all the Sunday papers every day, updated instantly and with added reactions to all the opinions. — Tim LeRoy (@Timleroyis) March 16, 2014

#8 Learning and development

@wadds professional development. I get access to a great reading list curated by the people I follow. — Chloe Ingram (@chloeingram) March 14, 2014

@wadds when there's little money for travel or conferences it's vital in sharing best practice & connecting esp in far away Northumberland. — Ross Wigham (@RossWigham) March 16, 2014

@wadds being able to learn from peers from all over the world, as well as stay abreast of developments in my sector and breaking news. — Debra Daglish (@debradaglish) March 16, 2014

@wadds Personally I love the amazing random stuff and interesting people. Professionally I value the sharing of ideas and best practice. — Seashell Comms (@i_seashell) March 16, 2014

#9 Research

@wadds research primarily; but also news, networking/ connecting and procrastinating (like now when I should be writing PhD!) — sarah williams (@sasbongo) March 16, 2014

@wadds it's my no. 1 research tool #madforthehashtag — Claire Burroughs (@BurroughsClaire) March 16, 2014

#10 Sport

@wadds and… The live football results updates run 15sec ahead of BBC, which gives me an unquantifiable advantage — Phil Stewart (@i15minutes) March 14, 2014

@wadds networking, building personal brand and newcastle untied banter. — Steve Cole (@schtevey) March 14, 2014

@wadds connects me to fellow football fans and updates me on all information to do with @AFCWimbledon , couldn't imagine life without it lol — Dons (@WimbledonFanz) March 16, 2014

#11 Brainstorming

@wadds Love it for quick & dirty opinion polls, brainstorming ideas with followers, and getting inspiration from others

— Sallie Bale (@secretivesallie) March 16, 2014

#12 Organisational communication

@wadds In the right hands, it's opened up a new, direct channels between companies and their customers. @btcare @virgintrains examples.

— Robert Gage (@Welsh_Wings) March 14, 2014