!) Twitter and “tweeting” is defined by the industry as microblogging, firstly just from that sense of wording, it implies inherent purposeful authorship of the content. Twitter is just a form of blogging, just a little at a time, so your remark about it being like a blog post I feel is definitely valid.

2) “fair use” law really doesn’t have a lot to do with the *length* of material as it does in the *meaning/purpose*, so inherently, without context, two words can’t really have much meaning and thus aren’t really subject to consideration (which maybe where the length argument could come in). BUT, even with only 140 characters, actual meaning, value and purpose can be created, and unless those 140 characters are totally being repurposed and reinvented, they are absolutely subject to the same rights as a 2500 word news article. Which in editorial contexts can absolutely be cited. Besides “Imagination is more important than knowledge,” is only 44 characters long.