If you’re over 40, you may believe that Twitter is for kids or people with too much time on their hands.

“Who really wants to know that I’m having a Starbucks?” you ask. And you may be right. People may not care about your latte. But to ignore Twitter as a powerful way to deliver your message is just wrong.

Exhibit A: Silent Bob.

If you don’t recognize his name or know actor Kevin Smith from his 2001 hit movie “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” you probably know him from his recent tweets from 30-thousand feet.

In February he was booted from a Southwest flight because he violated the obesity rules. He had originally purchased two seats because of his size, but when he was bumped to another flight there was only one seat available. When he tried to squeeze into the single seat, the crew determined he was too big and asked him to leave.

Kevin Smith was so angry, he began blasting the airline with a blistering series of tweets that went something like this:

Dear @SouthwestAir – I know I’m fat, but was Captain Leysath really justified in throwing me off a flight for which I was already seated?

I broke no regulation, offered no “safety risk” (what, was I gonna roll on a fellow passenger?).

Wanna tell me I’m too wide for the sky? Totally cool. But fair warning, folks: IF YOU LOOK LIKE ME, YOU MAY BE EJECTED FROM @SOUTHWESTAIR.

Smith continued the rant for hours, even tweeting a photograph of himself, cheeks bloated, on a second flight:

Hey @SouthwestAir! Look how fat I am on your plane! Quick! Throw me off!

Who knew a guy like Silent Bob could make so much noise?

So what?

Smith has 1.6 million followers. That’s the same number of people who read the New York Times.

Think about that for a second. It takes thousands of employees and countless millions of dollars of run the Times. Smith is able to reach the same number of people with a cell phone and a staff of one.

The Twitter tirade forced Southwest into crisis communications mode because Smith’s fans began re-tweeting his messages and many of them sent out their own tweets attacking the airline for being insensitive.

Southwest repeatedly apologized and ended up offering Smith a voucher.

The bottom line? Twitter is a force to be reckoned with. It’s taken a place alongside YouTube and Facebook as a must-have for any marketer.

I’d like to hear your feedback. Follow me and send me a tweet!