So, I must be getting old. While I don't FEEL old, and I certainly pride myself on keeping up with the social media world (mostly due to my job), I'm facing a particularly perplexing dilemma:What the heck is the difference between Facebook (status updates) and Twitter?
I've researched (through both using and reading articles), I've talked to people who use both and I still can't for the life of me figure out the difference. Is Twitter just one step closer to stalking (or narcissism, depending on how you look at it)? How do users discern between what they put up on Facebook vs Twitter? (Or do they do both?)
Help.
5 comments:
There isn't much difference. A lot of people have their Twitter and FB status updates linked so when they update their Twitter it automatically posts to their FB status.
For people who like to update their thoughts every few seconds, Twitter seems to be the better option (and hopefully they haven't linked their Twitter/FB).
A lot of the people I follow on Twitter are celebs or comedians so it's fun to see the quips they make.
It's really very dependent on the user. I'm not really sure I've helped or confused you more.
ahhh!! gotcha! so twitter is almost a way of being friends with people who you wouldn't normally be friends with (celebrities) while facebook is for people you may actually know? i think that makes sense!
ok, now i gotta go resort my "follow list" on both sites cause ur friend above just makes a whole lot of sense!
I have to give fair warning about Twitter...I didn't understand it at first and only followed friends (people I knew personally). Then I started following celebs or viral tweeters (not necessarily famous by name but have tons of followers - like the guy who created 's**t my dad says'). Now I follow religiously. I'm not sure why. Plus sometimes authors or comedians will 'tweet' back to you and suddenly you feel famous! So it can be addicting. The other downside is that anyone can see the tweets unless you're private. But then you don't get followers because they have to request you add them to your following list. I would say, if you want to experiment great. I'm still undecided and may have to ween myself from twitter. In fact, I'm laughing because I never thought I'd be so knowledgeable on it. ;)
Let me break it down for you.
Facebook is where I go to see updates on my relatives/long lost friends/other technology challenged individuals. Ugly baby pictures, links to NY times articles from my Dad, Farmville updates that I hide...
Twitter is where I spend 98% of my time. For me, it's more community-centric. I follow about 300 people in Houston and most of it is food related ("I'm baking x", "I'm eating at x," "I'm stuck in the x area, anyone free for lunch?"). I also follow a bunch of other designers/developers that are job-specific for me, as well as news sources (NY Times, NPR, etc).
The real power of Twitter comes in lists. Following a new group of users is a simple as following someone's list, or create your own. I use a standalone twitter app called Tweetdeck that breaks all these lists into separate columns.
Good news list: http://twitter.com/#!/mashable/news
And to get you started, follow this account: http://twitter.com/#!/GreatManchester
Check out all these lists: http://twitter.com/#!/GreatManchester/lists
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