There is a new rivalry taking the world by storm. No it isn’t rugby’s Australia vs. New Zealand, or baseball’s Mets vs. Yankees.
It’s social media’s Facebook vs. Twitter.
Twitter has been on the rise and more of us are levitating toward its simplicity and ease of use. I for one, have discovered that it suits my life better than Facebook. Here’s why.
Facebook has the schoolyard rejection factor. If someone wants to be my ‘friend’ they have to send a request and I have to ‘accept’ or ‘ignore’. And if I am the one sending the request, I have to wait to be confirmed or denied – which is ignoring’s true meaning.
I often visit blog sites or websites, especially those of authors I respect, and see a Facebook link. You would assume if that information is listed on the fan page or biographical info site it is an open website for friending. Don’t be so quick to make this assumption. Even in the case of one professional selling her services, the request I sent came with a chastising reply that the Facebook page is for close personal friends and family only. “If you do not know me personally and if I haven’t invited you to be a Facebook friend, please do not send a request,” is a warning I received. Then get your damn link off the page selling your work to people who also do not meet these requirements. I have a feeling that an agent or advisor forced that link out of them against their will.
Then there is the ever unpopular ‘unfriending’. I had to ‘unfriend’ a couple of high school classmates that still bothers me. They weren’t doing anything rude, salacious, or wrong, they were just playing virtual games that sent updates nonstop. I went into my settings and stopped the gaming notifications on my computer, but for some reason it didn’t fix what showed up on my blackberry – my umbilical cord and another topic we can discuss further later. It only has the capacity of showing a certain number of messages per page, and each page takes time and battery life to download. Page after page of fake farm requests for fake hay for the fake horse or fake walls for fake barns bombarded my capacity for receiving real news about my real life and real farm with real animals. Sometimes as many as eighty or ninety in a row. I handled it badly, I know this now. I should have sent them a message and made a request. Instead, in a fit of frustration, I ‘unfriended’ them. The problem ceased, the guilt remains. But, the onslaught of begging for a fake wheelbarrow has ended.
Facebook also has a few problems with reputation and can’t seem to decide on a format. Just when I learn one, it changes. Yikes!
And I still am not clear on their privacy policy. Do they sell our information or not?
Twitter on the other hand, has little angst. I can follow anyone with a single click – with the exception of a rare few who have private twitter feeds. In that incident a request is sent, but these are the exception instead of the rule. Anyone can follow me and I can choose whether or not to follow back.
We can use hashtags (#) to identify a specific topic we are either tweeting on or researching. I often find other bloggers or writers this way and have linked up with many in my field without much effort. You can find anything this way. I found out when the Charlie Brown Christmas Special was playing on television, got plot help with a novel, laughed over Steve Martin’s zany tweets, discovered the Arab Spring as it bloomed in Egypt, and many more fascinating items. There’s a limit to 140 characters, so the tweets are brief and links can be shortened to take you to the full site if you want further information.
And twitter doesn’t change much. Since I’ve been using it the icon changed from a ‘t’ to a bird, and there was one other change that allowed easier conversation following, but if there were others they were slight and not totally disruptive.
I also have many more tweeps – Twitter followers – than I do Facebook friends. And the kids say they are going back to ‘Myspace’ since their parents have taken over Facebook. Guess we can even ruin the cool factor of social media when we figure it out enough to compete with the teens.
How about you? Do you participate in social media and if so, do you prefer Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn or some other connectivity site?
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Writingfeemail's Blog 
Greetings from the last surviving dinosaur. I don’t facebook, I don’t twitter. I don’t have the time. And I have a lot of time. Until converted I am happy to remain a sad recluse who can barely keep up with weeding her small world wide web garden. Worse, and I don’t like admitting to it in public, but will make an exception for you: The only person who has my cellphone number is my son. Yes, really. Everyone else can catch me on my landline, at my own convenience.
“Unfriending”. Sweet. Yet another cripple of a word. In the olden days we just lost contact. Now, oh so cruelly, we, actively, “unfriend” people. Talk about being subtle. Great article, Renee. Made me laugh. Hope you don’t mind.
U (Friend)
Ursula, I was just like you until about a year ago when I went to a writing school and had to join Facebook in order to get the information I needed on the page created for the class. Then I added Twitter to stay in contact and well…it is a vortex that sucks you down, down, down, into the abyss.
I don’t mind your amusement. In fact, I enjoy it. Keep laughing Ursula. You are still my friend.
“But, the onslaught of begging for a fake wheelbarrow has ended…” HA!
I am not on Twitter, yet. I do have a FB page for distant family and “close” friends who never talked to me in high school (?).
I’m rarely on it and don’t put anything there I wouldn’t want shared with … Congress.
Great post!
MJ
MJ, this is so true. Don’t our close friends and family just call us on the phone or text? If mine had to use fb or twitter to be in touch with me, I would assume we weren’t that close.
you are correct – we aren’t close. The alternative – to disconnect completely – means I have to face the reality of a huge family that I rarely interact with but it’s not for lack of effort on my part. Sad.
MJ
If FB is keeping you connected to people, then that is a very good and positive thing. I’ve even applied for a Pinterest account – thanks to you and some of the other readers who are touting its qualities. May take me a while to figure it all out.
I’m an odd duck. I don’t even have a facebook account…
Maybe not as odd as you think. See Ursula’s comment.
Hi,
I am another one that does not have an account with facebook or twitter. I have seen facebook, as one of my friends tried to talk me into getting a page, and I had a look around on her computer, and it really seemed rather boring to me.
I like the blogosphere, I enjoy reading what people have posted, looking at photos, reading stories, etc. I have learned a lot about other countries and “met” some lovely people from all over the world as well. 😀
I’m delighted that so many of you aren’t attached to these social sites. Amazed that you have managed to avoid it – but delighted! Proves we don’t have to have it.
I have Facebook, and I have a Twitter account. I’ve never tweeted in my life, and I’ve only followed 1 (yes one) person. Thankfully, the option on FB to stop showing all the game updates worked for me, or I would have had to unfriend lots of folks. Now there are plenty that I’ve “hidden” on FB, including my own great niece (yikes! her language!!).
FB allowed me to reconnect with over half of my graduating class, and that’s been really nice.
I’ve heard it is replacing the old fashioned class reunion. It is nice to stay in touch, but sometimes you get more than you bargain for.
I have FB, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. wp posts the blog to fb, twitter and LinkedIn. Because my wp posts go to LinkedIn too, I am careful about what I write. But I have found it fun and rewarding that folks from the past have found me. Once upon a time, I scoffed at a reunion where they were so glad to “find” me because I had become among the “lost”… Now, I know, I’m not lost for those who want to put me on the “found” list.
A friend sent me an e-mail request for updating an old address and phone # list and asked if there was any other info I wished to add such as cell #. Once I added the fb, twitter, linkedin, wordpress, etc., she sent a message back saying that anyone who couldn’t find me simply wasn’t trying. All fun stuff and I’m glad to have found you Georgette.
I had not been aware of this great rivalry. I have a Twitter account, but aside from posting my blog posts, I never go there. I know there’s more to it, but I just haven’t taken the time to figure it out.
I’m sure there’s a lot I don’t know. I haven’t taken any classes or used any tutorials. So, I’m just ‘basics’ as well.
I have a facebook as a way to keep in touch with all my kids and friends who are all over the world and i do not have twitter, in fact i don’t even know how it works.. I sometimes feel like i should, it would be fun for the farmy but doesn’t it get banal! c
I can scoot through it pretty quickly and actually use the hashtags (#) to search a particular subject. That keeps it interesting.
I completely agree! Facebook is becoming quite a irritating place.
And does the word ‘friend’ really even have any meaning here anymore? What with people having 700-800 ‘friends’, is it truly possible that you are actually good friends with everyone on that list?
Hi Sanchari. Thanks for commenting. Yeah, how good are these friends if the numbers are in the hundreds?
I am very close to deleting my entire facebook account, but I’m not sure how long that would take. I am going to slowly start ‘defriending’ people and leave just close friends and relatives. To be honest, I used to be a bit addicted to it, but now I can’t even bear to visit. It really has become third grade all over again with all the games and the gossip.
Twitter–well, I have an account but only use it rarely to post one of my blog posts.
Darla, I like your word ‘defriend’ much better than ‘unfriend’. It is so much more civil.
Haven’t done the Twitter thing and I suspect I probably won’t, although you make a compelling case!
John, I bet you would like Twitter. Give it a try.
I’m still trying to figure out the whole twitter thing. I can’ post messages but that is about all I know how to do. Sigh. I am a complete moron when it comes to this stuff.. 🙂
Melynda, I’m so glad to hear from you. All must be well. That’s worth tweeting about!
I got a laugh from your comment about how all the kids are going to myspace again because their parents have taken over Facebook! Isn’t it the truth! Most of the seniors I know are on Facebook and most of my real life friends are connected to me there as well. Long lost childhood friends have found me, much to my delight. I do not believe that there needs to be a rivalry between Facebook and Twitter though. I have the two interconnected with my writing and jewelry pages going to twitter and they seem to mesh well. The two services are different enough that they each serve a different purpose.
Wendy, that’s a nice perspective. I’m connected to everything. I don’t know why. It just seemed like the thing to do.
The trick is to not double up your information. I feel you get the best results that way. For me, the start of the information stream is my wp blog, then to twitter. I also send both my fanpages on facebook to twitter, but not my personal account. That I keep private for close friends only. For those that only wish to get my main points, they can subscribe to my website. If they want to know more about the day to day thoughts of an artisan jeweler or a writer, they go to my FB fanpages. Twitter is like the surf of the ocean, its all just floating out there, but you get bites from the deep in the most unexpected ways. I’m growing fond of Twitter as I learn more about how it works.
Anyway, its been a nice conversation here. Something to mull over.
Love Facebook. Not only do I stay in touch with family and friends, I’ve become real friends with former acquaintances, and keep up with what’s going on in our small town. (Wait. That’s all over the world.) I hate phones, seldom initiate a call. They interrupt you (read “me”) at someone else’s convenience, not mine, and I’m sure my occasional calls do the same. Twitter doesn’t appeal, but then, I don’t have a smartphone to keep up with things. I also read lots of blogs, and they’re moderatively interactive. Those authors who so rudely tell you not to try to friend them should have public pages for fans that you can “like.”
You are right Lee. There should be a ‘fan’ page and a ‘private’ page if they are listing one on their public profile site. Oh well. I guess it feels good to be snarky to one of us little people sometimes. And I don’t use the telephone a lot for calls either. I would rather text or message. As you say, they can retrieve it when it is convenient for them.
I’m in the dinosaur camp (who says we’re extinct?). I don’t have any of them. I did sign up for a LinkedIn account, but totally ignore it. I wanted to share my blog, but all too many of my contacts are clients and that’s not a good combo.
I can see how that might get sticky. I have LinkedIn too, but I’m not quite as active there. Trying to ramp it up a little, but I don’t know why.
I have had fun with both and even gave away my wedding dress, which had been boxed since 1980 bad karma and all, to a high school friend I had not seen for 30 years. Long story (and an earlier blogpost)….. we reconnected on Facebook. Currently, if I am wanting to sit in a stupefied gaze with my tablet in hand, I haunt Pinterest. Pretty things there and no commitments need be made.
I’m hearing a lot about Pinterest lately. I have tried to avoid adding yet another site to my list but you and some of the other bloggers I follow are doing such lovely work with pics from there. It must be inspiring. I may have to start using that as well.
I’ve mysteriously been loosing people I’m following on Twitter. I don’t understand. For that reason, I’ve fallen out of love with them. I spend little time on FB ever so often. I don’t think I like any of them all that much really. It’s what we’re supposed to do, so I don’t wanna be left behind since there are advantages to using them.
That’s exactly it Totsy – it feels like we’re supposed to do the social networks. Oh well, at least we’re trying.
Losing. My goodness!
Don’t you hate it when you hit send on the ‘post comment’ and then see a mistake. I knew what you meant though. Sometimes I feel like I’m ‘loosing’ my mind and ‘losing’ it too!
I have two Facebook accounts and two Twitter accounts (2 for my site and 2 personal)…they drive me crazy sometimes!! When I first started using Twitter, I didn’t like it and thought it was rather pointless…then I changed my mind and now love it much more than Facebook! It’s so, so much simpler than Facebook; there’s no liking statuses, photos, sharing your location and all that crap! Just short little 160 character messages and I love that! I wish I could only use Twitter, but that’s just not an option lol
Wow Nate, you win with two of each!
I have a Twitter and Facebook account but don’t use either very much but if I do I always gravitate towards Twitter. We need more simplicity in our lives, don’t we?
Simple is definitely good.
I’ve been reading all the comments and what surprises me is how few bloggers use FB and, especially, Twitter! What a missed opportunity. When I first signed up for Twitter, about 18 months ago, I had no idea what I was doing. Found it intimidating. But now I get it and it’s wonderful. I love the immediacy and how it’s the primo place for getting your breaking news. I use them both a lot and even know my Klout number. But, now we have Pinterest. Just started using it and, once I figured it out, I find that it’s another great tool for bringing more visitors to your blog. Not only can I post my stories there, but I can post other blogs/posts that I come across and find worth sharing. It’s a giant bulletin board and the number of users is growing by leaps and bounds. And me? I’m all in. Social media rocks!
Thanks Monica. I simply must check out Pinterest. Several of you have mentioned it and I am growing intrigued. I truly think that Twitter is changing the world and letting us have access to news and information from around the globe as it happens.
I like Twitter a lot but I don’t have a Facebook account. To me Twitter is good for news feeds and seems to have a lot of people on there who share my interests. I really enjoy it. I like the quick, pithy updates on things. It’s fun!
Hi Selma. Twitter is fun and informative. Plus, I love searching for particular topics.
I don’t trust Facebook. One must be extra cautious when using it…
Twitter hasn’t lived up to my expectations. It’s like a one sided conversation.
I use it because it can run by itself since I hooked it up my blog….
One thing I like about it is the other day I needed so info about a serving bowl. I went to the company website and their faq did not cover the answer. They didn’t have a way to contact them without giving a life-history so-to-speak… so I went to twitter, pulled them up in a search, asked my question and had my answer within a short while.
I don’t like having to give out personal info to get an answer to simple questions, so twitter is good for that.
Also, it’s a dandy to post links to articles that I may want to share or go back and look at over time.
I love that you found an answer about a serving bowl. That’s exactly the sort of thing that is so wonderful about Twitter!
Interesting post!
I comment on others’ status updates, but the only thing I post to FB is my blog. I set up the automatic posting within WP, so don’t have to physically post this myself. I also automatically post my blog to Twitter, and I do post other things via Twitter on rare occasions. But mostly, I go to these sites to see what others are saying, and to respond if I choose to. I agree with your comments about the friending/unfriending thing. Very awkward! I have accepted several requests from people I don’t really want to include, but would feel rude to ignore when they ask to be friends. I’m sure there will be guilt in my future over this. I also HATE game requests. If I’m online, I’m either reading or writing, it is not how/where I play games! ~ Sheila
Thanks Sheila. I’m not a gamer – obviously – either. And I used to feel compelled to ‘like’ everyone’s facebook status. Otherwise, I thought it meant that I didn’t like it. Sounds crazy, but it seemed liked that was expected. Now of course I know better but that is the sort of stress we don’t need.
I like both. depends on type of work.
And now we have LinkedIn and Pinterest. Do you use them as well?
Facebook was cool, not so now – so “crowded” and all the changes. (It’s great for spread-out families – and stalkers, though – laws need to catch up a bit there…)Twitter so much faster.
Twitter is definitely making things easier to find and to use. But as you say, a lot of families are sharing photos and information on Facebook that keeps them in touch with each other. Guess both still have a role to play.
I signed up for linkedin when I set up my blog, but since I’m not seeking employment, there didn’t seem much point in it.
I do have a Facebook account. My daughter, who has six kids, said if I wanted to know what was going on in her life, I needed to be on there, where she can send a quick note to everyone at once. (She lives 2.5 hours away) My family is spread far and wide, and I’ve gotten to know cousins on there where otherwise, our paths wouldn’t cross. This is enough to keep me busy!
I was surprised at the reaction you got from the author. Sounds like a negative instead of a positive to attract readers. Maybe she doesn’t care about selling more books?
Most authors want the additonal fb friends as a promotional tool and the assumption is that they WANT you to ‘friend’ them. But not so in every case. I still wonder why the link was even put on the site. Thanks for the support.
I enjoyed your post, and I like Twitter better than Facebook, but like what friends post on Facebook who either don’t post the same stuff on Twitter, or don’t have a Twitter account. I have some social anxiety, so Twitter is better for me! Cheers.
Thank you Hermione – I love your name by the way. Yes, I agree, it seems to be important to have both right now, but Twitter is infinitely easier and quicker.
Mmm’… I haven’t yet come to terms with whether I like Facebook more or Twitter more. I guess I just use them for different things. My Facebook friends are all my close friends, work friends and school friends from the past. I keep my friend list pretty small. With Twitter I have a larger friend base since it is built upon my interest. I guess I like them both, but for totally different reasons.
That’s a very valid point. Use one for personal and the other for business. Smart.
Renee, You raised some really important points and asked some important questions here. I am going to agree with you on lots of things. But still I will prefer Facebook over twitter, simply because- through twitter most of the people try to promote something; it may be a movie, a website, a book, a blog or anything else. Because I believe with in 140 words it’s really hard to share something. Still twitter has its own strengths. But I hope, Facebook helps people to connect emotionally; which twitter does not. I am not sure if many will agree me on this. 🙂
I think you made a good case for Facebook. I suppose I am more emotionally connected to my FB friends as many of my Tweeps are not in my acquaintance at all. But then again, I get to follow our President, my favorite actors, news organizations and Oprah – who was in India recently and doing a whole show about it. So we dont have to choose, we can love both! Thanks for leaving such a thought provoking comment.
Renee, oh my goodness this post had me in stitches! That part about the parents taking over Facebook—hahahaha! I’ll confess that I’ve never been into Facebook. The whole privacy issue is a deal breaker for me, as is the fact that before, when you wanted to stop your Facebook account, you couldn’t. It could always be resurrected and frankly, I found that scary. Twitter is more my style, though according to Klout I don’t use it enough since my score keeps plummeting every day. It appears I’ve lost my power to be “influential”. hee hee! Thanks for the great post! 🙂
I don’t know my Klout number – which is probably a good thing. Glad you got a chuckle out of it anyway. See ya over at Twitter!
–Great Post.
I do Facebook & Twitter…
they both have their place.
Facebook is much more personal, but I agree, I hate that farm stuff. WTH?
Tweeting is fast, easy & effective. I like how I can follow ANYBODY 🙂
I Like it all to be quite honest. Very Addictive.
Xx
I started out with FB more as a way of keeping up with friends, family and my son’s friends (as he passed away a few years ago). Now I’ve added more “friends of friends of friends” as a means to market my book. I also use LinkedIn for that purpose and other business ventures. I’ve yet to try Twitter. I don’t do any of the “games” and such.
Twitter is something that I am getting to like and appreciate more and more. Have also explored the new Pinterest which looks amazing!
I’ve had a FB account for several years. I love it for the connections and reconnections that I have made that would never have happened otherwise. I don’t think I’d have gone to my HS reunion had I not reconnected with some really neat people in my class, getting to know them better than I ever did 40 years ago!
That said, I get really annoyed with game notifications that clutter my feed. I’ve also blocked those in my settings but a few still leak through. I have never taken FB seriously, though. It is a fun pasttime that I enjoy for the purely social connections and also for occasional political tug of wars.
For me, LinkedIn is the way to go for professional networking. I take that site much more seriously and am careful about who I network with.
I joined the Twitter world about a month ago and am struggling with it. It feels pretty shallow on the one hand. But on the other hand, I have found some really informative business related blogs and topics. I’m trying to learn Twitter because it appears to be a major marketing force these days and I hope to be able to offer self-publishing clients/friends a boost in their endless marketing efforts.
I’m unafraid of social media and find that different platforms are best suited to different goals.
This was a great post for discussion.