Social networking has become a global phenomenon since the introduction of sixdegrees.com back in 1997.
This basic platform enabled users to build profiles and lists of friends. The model was built upon by popular social networks such as Myspace and Bebo.
In recent years Facebook and Twitter have become the two major players in the social networking sphere. Facebook currently has over 1 billion users, while Twitter has more than 500 million.
This article will highlight some of the key points that these networks can take from each others success.
What Facebook Would Post to Twitter
Take The Personal Approach
It is possible to interact in a wide variety of ways on Facebook. You can send pictures of memorable moments, issue event invitations and send lengthy messages to your friends and family. Facebook also allows users to create highly personal profiles, including lists of favourite films, music and brands.
People who use Twitter are restricted to 140 character messages. Unfortunately this isn’t really enough to detail your personal thoughts and feelings about the issues of the day. The Twitter profile is also fairly restrictive.
Allow The Users Some Privacy
Facebook doesn’t have the healthiest record when it comes to respecting user privacy. Indeed, the owners of this Social Network have made a number of changes which caused user dissatisfaction in recent years. However, Facebook do give you the option of which messages to make publicly available and which to send to close friends.
It is also possible to send Tweets to selected people within the Twitter community. However, the general Tweets are available for the whole world to see. As the American Judge Matthew Sciarrino said, If you post a tweet, just like if you scream it out the window, there is no reasonable expectation of privacy.’
Create Engaging Apps & Games
Millions of people all across the world play Facebook games on a daily basis. Many also use helpful and highly interactive Facebook apps such as Band Profile and Where I’ve Been. In recent times specialist game developers such as Zyngia and Rovio have started creating games especially for the platform.
People who use Twitter will tell you that Tweetdeck is the equal of any apps available on Facebook. However, there isn’t a great deal of interest beyond that. You know you’d rather spend your time playing Chefville or Bejewelled on Facebook than sending Chess game instructions via Twitter.
Focus On Business
Facebook has made it very easy for businesses to engage with their customers. It is possible to create specific fan pages, featuring news of competitions and discounts. Facebook also allows the inclusion of images, videos, which play a part in building brand interaction.
Twitter offers a more limited set of options to members of the business community. It is still a fairly simple process to set up specific brand pages. However, it can be difficult to promote products or services in 140 character tweets.
What Twitter Would Tweet to Facebook
Too Much Advertising Will Lose Core Fans
It is quite common for Twitter users to follow their brands of choice. They generally expect these brands to send out some advertisements in the form of Tweets. However, if they feel bombarded then there is always the option of pressing the Unfollow button.
Mark Zuckerberg and his Facebook team decided some time ago that it would be a good idea to incorporate advertisements in line with the user preferences. Unfortunately this has led to the loss of some loyal Facebook fans.
Speed Equals Success
The upcoming removal of the Google Reader can be seen as a direct response to the increasing popularity of Twitter Even the major news channels are unable to keep up with the spread of information on this social network.
Facebook was never designed as a place to catch up with the latest news. And it would be a mistake for them to challenge Twitter on this front now!
Enable Widespread Communication
It was mentioned previously that there is an issue over the privacy of Twitter. However, advocates of this social network would point out that open communication is Twitter’s greatest strength. It allows for the viral spread of posts that are of the utmost interest. It also allows us to gain an insight into the fascinating lives of celebrities.
Users of Facebook do not have the ability to disseminate information as widely. Even posts that are ‘liked’ will usually only be seen by a small number of additional users. However, those of us who like to keep updated on the celebrity gossip do have the option of accessing fan pages.
Keep The Interface Simple
One of the main reasons that many people favour Twitter is that the platform is incredibly easy to use. You can spend as much time as you like checking out the humourous tweets left by friends and family. It is also very simple to create your own tweets.
The Facebook interface is far more cluttered. There are timelines, applications and friend updates to skim through before you start creating your own messages. Perhaps Facebook will think about making their platform easier to navigate in the months to come.
This post was contributed by Datadial; an online marketing company based in the UK.
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