Facebook is more specific and personal, while the "Twitter-verse" is more open. Facebook requires you to submit "Friend" requests to people you'd like to follow. Twitter is more of an open forum - unless you have privacy settings turned on.
I discovered this important caveat about Twitter earlier this year when I started using my previously inactive account more often. I couldn't figure out why my Tweets seemed to go unnoticed, even when I Tweeted about trending topics.
For example, when I attended Prince's concert at the Essence Festival in July, festival organizers posted audience members' live Tweets on a big screen next to the stage throughout the show. Although I kept Tweeting, I couldn't ever seem to join the ongoing Twitter discussion about The Purple One.
A few weeks later when I was tinkering with my account, I realized I had the privacy settings on, which required me to approve people to follow me (similar to Facebook), and only my followers could see my Tweets.
When I turned off the privacy setting, a whole new world literally opened up. The number of people who follow me on Twitter has more than doubled - from a paltry 49 to a not-so-bad 124 as of this writing. That's still miniscule numbers compared to a celebrity like Katy Perry who has millions of Twitter followers, but it's a start.
It's easier to reach famous people on Twitter than on Facebook. Speaking of celebrities, the open nature of Twitter enables you to reach out to well-known people - even when you're not intending to.
For example, I was recently channel surfing one Saturday afternoon and came across the '96 movie Love Jones starring Nia Long and Larenz Tate. I Tweeted, "Love Jones is a classic," and shortly thereafter Larenz Tate re-Tweeted my Tweet.
I wasn't even trying to reach Larez Tate, but it's pretty cool that he responded. On Twitter, it's fairly easy to reach famous people by including their Twitter handle in your Tweets, such as "@LarenzTate."
But on Facebook, even if I had "liked" Larenz Tate or Nia Long's fanpages (if those even exist), it seems unlikely that they would have responded to my post about Love Jones because people's newsfeeds are so clogged up.
It's easier to see content on Twitter than on Facebook. When I "like" professional fanpages on Facebook, I rarely see any posts. Maybe I'm not following the right pages.
For example, I recently "liked" the Black Girls Rock! page, but when I log onto Facebook, I never see any of their posts. In order for me to see what the Black Girls are up to, I'd have to go through the effort of looking them up and going directly to their page.
For example, when I attended Prince's concert at the Essence Festival in July, festival organizers posted audience members' live Tweets on a big screen next to the stage throughout the show. Although I kept Tweeting, I couldn't ever seem to join the ongoing Twitter discussion about The Purple One.
A few weeks later when I was tinkering with my account, I realized I had the privacy settings on, which required me to approve people to follow me (similar to Facebook), and only my followers could see my Tweets.
When I turned off the privacy setting, a whole new world literally opened up. The number of people who follow me on Twitter has more than doubled - from a paltry 49 to a not-so-bad 124 as of this writing. That's still miniscule numbers compared to a celebrity like Katy Perry who has millions of Twitter followers, but it's a start.
It's easier to reach famous people on Twitter than on Facebook. Speaking of celebrities, the open nature of Twitter enables you to reach out to well-known people - even when you're not intending to.
For example, I was recently channel surfing one Saturday afternoon and came across the '96 movie Love Jones starring Nia Long and Larenz Tate. I Tweeted, "Love Jones is a classic," and shortly thereafter Larenz Tate re-Tweeted my Tweet.
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| This is a screen shot from my iPad on the day I Tweeted about the movie Love Jones. At the very bottom is actor Larenz Tate's re-Tweet. |
I wasn't even trying to reach Larez Tate, but it's pretty cool that he responded. On Twitter, it's fairly easy to reach famous people by including their Twitter handle in your Tweets, such as "@LarenzTate."
But on Facebook, even if I had "liked" Larenz Tate or Nia Long's fanpages (if those even exist), it seems unlikely that they would have responded to my post about Love Jones because people's newsfeeds are so clogged up.
It's easier to see content on Twitter than on Facebook. When I "like" professional fanpages on Facebook, I rarely see any posts. Maybe I'm not following the right pages.
For example, I recently "liked" the Black Girls Rock! page, but when I log onto Facebook, I never see any of their posts. In order for me to see what the Black Girls are up to, I'd have to go through the effort of looking them up and going directly to their page.
But on Twitter, many of the people and organizations I follow post regularly. In fact, I wish I had more time to read (and watch and listen to) all the great content on Twitter.
Twitter is more geared toward business and high-volume traffic. When comparing Facebook and Twitter, the latter is much more open to marketing and other business-related posts.
On personal Facebook, I always feel a bit leery of posting about business-related projects. I always feel like I'm one of those people who get involved with multi-level marketing schemes and try to "politely" badger friends and family into signing up.
But on Twitter, it seems not only okay but expected to Tweet about my professional pursuits. If you're a writer who works in many different mediums, as I do, Twitter is a great way to spread awareness about your project and network with others who do similar work.
And I never feel like I'm being self-indulgent or posting too much on Twitter. When random thoughts or funny insights pop into my head, I don't hesitate to Tweet them - that's what Twitter is for.
From reading this blog post, you may get the sense that I think Twitter is "better" than Facebook. Not necessarily. It all depends on what you use social media for.
If you're interested in connecting with people both personally and professionally, Twitter seems to be more suited to that goal. The only downside is that you're limited to 140 characters, but that forces you to be clear and concise - not a bad skill to develop as a writer. But you can add links to blogs and other sites, as I often do.
If you just want to keep up on what friends and family are up to, personal Facebook is the way to go. Although I plan to set up a professional Facebook fanpage, I haven't gotten around to it yet, so I can't speak on the pros and cons of that option.
This post is part of a series on "Adventures in Social Media." In my next post, which I plan to publish on Monday, Nov. 3, I'll explore the purposes of a blog. And why I hope my blog becomes obsolete in the not-too-distant future.
Twitter is more geared toward business and high-volume traffic. When comparing Facebook and Twitter, the latter is much more open to marketing and other business-related posts.
On personal Facebook, I always feel a bit leery of posting about business-related projects. I always feel like I'm one of those people who get involved with multi-level marketing schemes and try to "politely" badger friends and family into signing up.
But on Twitter, it seems not only okay but expected to Tweet about my professional pursuits. If you're a writer who works in many different mediums, as I do, Twitter is a great way to spread awareness about your project and network with others who do similar work.
And I never feel like I'm being self-indulgent or posting too much on Twitter. When random thoughts or funny insights pop into my head, I don't hesitate to Tweet them - that's what Twitter is for.
From reading this blog post, you may get the sense that I think Twitter is "better" than Facebook. Not necessarily. It all depends on what you use social media for.
If you're interested in connecting with people both personally and professionally, Twitter seems to be more suited to that goal. The only downside is that you're limited to 140 characters, but that forces you to be clear and concise - not a bad skill to develop as a writer. But you can add links to blogs and other sites, as I often do.
If you just want to keep up on what friends and family are up to, personal Facebook is the way to go. Although I plan to set up a professional Facebook fanpage, I haven't gotten around to it yet, so I can't speak on the pros and cons of that option.
This post is part of a series on "Adventures in Social Media." In my next post, which I plan to publish on Monday, Nov. 3, I'll explore the purposes of a blog. And why I hope my blog becomes obsolete in the not-too-distant future.
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