Twitter: Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down? Mark Frauenfelder (up!) and Seth Godin (down!) weigh in.

To the Twitter holdouts: You're not alone. Only one in five small-business owners actively uses social media, reveals a recent survey by the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business. And although Twitter is growing, the pace is slowing.

So should you sign on or stay off? Here's what two experts have to say about tweeting and business.

Sign On
Mark Frauenfelder, founder of the popular blog boingboing.net, says Twitter is valuable for every small business: "It's a way to connect directly with people in an informal atmosphere where they're not afraid to provide feedback. You can float ideas you can't anywhere else."

And that means you won't need to spend on a market research firm or focus group, since you start with people who want a conversation with you, who ask interesting questions and who can make you think about what you're doing with your company.

Entrepreneurs have a natural advantage on Twitter, he says. "People with entrepreneurial spirit are so interested in creating a fascinating life for themselves, they would have less trouble creating a compelling story than someone who's a cog in a machine."