For many, Twitter is a great way to let their friends and family know what they’re up to at any given moment, or keep track of their favorite public figures. But, a few towns in Minnesota have decided to use the micro-blogging service as a way to keep their inhabitants up to date on local affairs.

The towns of Falcon Heights, Minnetonka and Edina, Minnesota have all become “suburban government pioneers” by employing Twitter’s ease of use to inform locals of everything from snow emergencies to sewer backups.

According to the Falcon Heights parks department, using Twitter and Facebook to post notices is more efficient than traditional methods. And, for those in Eden Prairie, MN the use of YouTube for posting video bulletins (including a city promotional 13 different languages) has become common practice.

“Everybody's trying to figure out how to best do this, similar to when websites first became prevalent,” stated Justin Miller, Falcon Heights’ city manager. “Who can post? Who can publish? What's appropriate to put out there? These are the types of questions we think about.”

While to many the news isn’t that important (one such tweet reads “Today is NOT recycling day”), it is a neat first step towards putting even the localest of local news online. But, will it catch on?

I love Twitter. I think it’s a lot of fun, it’s a great way to keep track of those that you find most interesting, and now it appears that it will help you let the world know just what you’re up to… while you’re on the road!

According to Gear Live, Twitter will be implemented into OnStar by using text-to-speech conversion to help you update your status on the go. “While in your vehicle, you can use OnStar to submit and retrieve tweets (messages) via your Twitter account. Using OnStar’s Voice-Activated Hands-Free Calling system, and having your voice converted into text, you can provide updates which would appear in the ‘What are you doing?’ section of your Twitter homepage. It is also possible to listen to a tweet that was sent to you by someone else after it has been converted into voice. You can send and receive tweets without having to type or read anything.”

It’s expected that this can be a great tool for asking the world where the best cup of coffee in downtown San Francisco is, and waiting to hear the responses (for example). Moreover, it’s a great way to just let your followers know what you’re up to without having to endanger those around you. Eliminating the danger of feverishly typing out your 140-character updates while steering with your knees is mighty slick.