As I’ve suggested many times before, Twitter is like an online coffee shop where you can quietly enjoy coffee in a corner, listening to what others have to say, or strike up a conversation on your own. But on Twitter, you don’t have to speak loudly to be overheard. Eavesdropping is very much encouraged and makes it a very powerful social media tool.
Facebook status updates are similar to Twitter tweets, but they are not as public in that you can easily restrict (e.g. everyone, friends of friends, only friends, and customize) who is able to read and reply to them. Twitter allows you to protect your tweets from public reading as well, but I don’t come across many people who implement this feature, as it generally defeats the purpose of using Twitter. Private messages can be sent either way.
Twitter is about conversation, sharing information, and exchanging ideas whereas Facebook is more about maintaining and continuing friendships, and giving public affirmation. This isn’t to suggest that people don’t chat on Facebook or connect with new people who have valuable information to share, but it serves a different purpose.
And here’s my thinking as to why:
On Twitter, you can follow and chat with individuals and companies that you agree with, disagree with, or have yet to make a decision about. No matter the subject of conversation, the act does not designate you as a friend or a fan; it simply conveys interest. Also on Twitter, you’re welcome to follow people who don’t follow back. This isn’t the case on Facebook; friend acceptance must be mutual.
Businesses and other entities (e.g. non profit organizations, public figures etc.) can create Facebook Fan pages to promote their products and doings. And by becoming a fan, you are publicly affirming that you support their work. To follow the same business / entity on Twitter doesn’t necessary mean that you’ve bought in. For me, this difference is key.
Here’s an example:
As you probably know, I love baseball and my favorite team is the Seattle Mariners. I follow them on Twitter (@TheRealMariners), exchanging tweets from time to time. My mere following suggests nothing more than that I’m interested (I could follow other teams too), but the Mariners are my team so I am a fan on Facebook. To further my point, some of the people I chat with on Twitter like the New York Yankees, but you won’t find me listed on their Facebook Fan page.
Like most things, there’s gray area. Twitter lists changes the playing field further, as adding someone to your list may imply that you are more than just a follower; more like a Facebook Fan. Either way, Twitter and Facebook complement each other.
Do you chat with individuals and businesses on Twitter that you wouldn’t necessarily become a fan of on Facebook. Do you find Twitter to be more like a coffee shop than Facebook?
8 Comments
I’ve tried hard to keep FB as a gathering place for friends, high school and college classmates.
Twitter – and I like you analogy – is like a coffee shop to me. I love to be immersed in the thousands of conversations of the people I follow. Like I would in a coffee shop, if I hear/read something of interest, I may comment and engage in the conversation.
It’s been and continues to be a great adventure. Conversations leads to relationships; relationships make life interesting!
@Marc Vaillancourt I definitely agree. Do you think that Twitter users are more inclined to strike up face to face conversations at coffee shops since they see what conversation can lead to on Twitter?
I like the definition of a recent post that Twitter is used to follow mini-celebrities and Facebook to keep in touch with people you know from high school.
I’ve been using Facebook to re-connect with long lost friends spread all over the world and Twitter to make new acquaintances locally.
I’ve seen good examples of local businesses using Twitter, but I don’t think becoming a fan in Facebook effectively promotes the business you like.
I’m not sure how good Facebook is to promote businesses (pros and cons), but some people affirm their liking of specific businesses on Facebook. And of course businesses can/do promote their products and service on Facebook etc. Also, it’s interesting how some non-celebrities offline have become celebrities online etc. Nowadays, it seems easier to become a “celebrity” online. But I’m sure it’s more complicated than this.
We each have our own metaphors. To me FB is like the watercooler in cyberspace, but instead of your office mates gathering around, it’s everyone in your entire “social convoy”–in short, all your connections. I have family, friends, and CS on FB, but on Twitter I have no family, no close friends–I follow people I don’t know and CS. It feels more like a stream filled with gold (think the miners in the Gold Rush) that I visit almost every day. I dip my strainer into the streat and see what ends up in it at that moment. It wasn’t until I gave myself permission to miss some of the nuggets that flow by that I began to appreciate Twitter. FB is more about connecting than broadcasting in my opinion, while Twitter is a little of both.
@Melinda Blau I like your metaphor, and your suggestion that Facebook is more about connecting and broadcasting while Twitter is a little of both. I agree that Facebook is more about family and friends etc., but it seems that Twitter lists makes it easier to follow / connect with specific groups of people (in a similar, but different way). It’ll be interesting to see how both technologies move forward, trying to overlap in functionality when it makes sense, and differentiate further.
I think they are. The beauty of Twitter is the ability to eavesdrop on conversation. Coffee shops are the same – me might be reading or surfing, but naturally we are aware of the converstions around us. If you are focus on expanding your relationships and connecting with people – striking up a face-2-face conversation with a stranger in a coffee shop is a no brainer. Plus…. you already have a common connection – you frequent the same coffee shop – there’s a built in conversation around that topic alone! Make it a great day!
@Marc Vaillancourt Here’s a link to a story about tweets that lead to face to face conversations at a local coffee shop. It’s called, Twitter-led coffee klatch loses its home. Sadly, the location is closing. Online conversations can definitely complement face to face and vice versa.