If there are two social media networks that people in this world know, it's Facebook and Twitter. So of course there are people that are constantly comparing the two against each other - which is entirely acceptable, of course, and yeah I have some opinions of my own. I've been on Facebook since October of '07 and Twitter since January of '09, so I can tell you that I at least have some experience with both sites as a consumer. I've had the opportunity to watch both sides grow in terms of business to customer relations - a few years ago, it would've been weird to be so actively marketed against on Facebook, but now none of us blink an eye. Ads are everywhere, and we just can't help it. (Use adblock all you want, but all it'll do is minimize the outward spam.)
I really like both sites, though for different reasons. I can't tell you why I initially joined Twitter - I don't remember - but I do know that a few months after I joined Twitter a lot of people in the online community that I was a part of joined it too. And suddenly participating went from being one of thousands of viewers on Youtube to being able to interact more directly with these people. It brought them down to an even level, instead of placing them on a pedestal. And yes, as the sites have gained more popularity and numbers of followers have grown, it's been a little harder to connect to people again, but at the same time it isn't. Companies have been able to connect to their customers even more know, and it's great. (Sure, I may never be able to talk to Ashton Kutcher even though he doesn't have more followers than anyone in the world anymore, but that's not the point.) The amount of direct customer interaction is... nice. It's really nice to be able to know that there's a person sitting on the other side of the Internet and they're meant just to talk to you. I do feel like customer interaction can be better/more direct on Twitter than it is on Facebook, though it does depend on the company. Twitter you can talk directly to the company, while on Facebook I feel like your comment will just get lost in a sea of other comments.
I do use both sites to connect with my friends, especially friends that I've met at conferences or haven't seen since high school. But I can tell you that while my interactions with my high school friends are mostly on Facebook (out of the two sites I'm discussing here), my interactions with my online friends are mostly on Twitter. And I know that I'm a hundred times more inclined to use Twitter to ramble about whatever I happen to be doing at the moment than being that person that posts a Facebook status every few hours (or even more often). The online world has been adapting to Twitter much better, and with our world so quickly growing into something that can't exist without the Internet, I think it's important to adapt to the way of life online. Facebook is great, but Twitter is better (at least for this).
I really like both sites, though for different reasons. I can't tell you why I initially joined Twitter - I don't remember - but I do know that a few months after I joined Twitter a lot of people in the online community that I was a part of joined it too. And suddenly participating went from being one of thousands of viewers on Youtube to being able to interact more directly with these people. It brought them down to an even level, instead of placing them on a pedestal. And yes, as the sites have gained more popularity and numbers of followers have grown, it's been a little harder to connect to people again, but at the same time it isn't. Companies have been able to connect to their customers even more know, and it's great. (Sure, I may never be able to talk to Ashton Kutcher even though he doesn't have more followers than anyone in the world anymore, but that's not the point.) The amount of direct customer interaction is... nice. It's really nice to be able to know that there's a person sitting on the other side of the Internet and they're meant just to talk to you. I do feel like customer interaction can be better/more direct on Twitter than it is on Facebook, though it does depend on the company. Twitter you can talk directly to the company, while on Facebook I feel like your comment will just get lost in a sea of other comments.
I do use both sites to connect with my friends, especially friends that I've met at conferences or haven't seen since high school. But I can tell you that while my interactions with my high school friends are mostly on Facebook (out of the two sites I'm discussing here), my interactions with my online friends are mostly on Twitter. And I know that I'm a hundred times more inclined to use Twitter to ramble about whatever I happen to be doing at the moment than being that person that posts a Facebook status every few hours (or even more often). The online world has been adapting to Twitter much better, and with our world so quickly growing into something that can't exist without the Internet, I think it's important to adapt to the way of life online. Facebook is great, but Twitter is better (at least for this).
Great description of your use. You seem to be ready to see how other manifestations of Twitter can be used for conversation tracking.
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