Facebook and Twitter can be immensely powerful tools, but which one is the more powerful social network in your mind? As a marketing tool, Facebook has the edge. Its media-rich features allow people to market goods, services, and brands in shockingly effective ways. It’s just easier to grab attention with images and videos than it is with 140 characters.
Socially, Twitter had the edge. Thanks to its brevity and speed (and Facebook’s woefully sluggish mobile apps), Twitter reaches millions of people quickly. Celebrities tend to interact more with fans on Twitter than on Facebook. The social network revealed that the U.S. was on the verge of nabbing Osama Bin Laden way before President Obama confirmed his death. Many protesters in the 2011 Egyptian revolution used Twitter to give the world first-hand accounts of what was happening in Tahrir Square. (To be fair, they used Facebook too, but again, those sluggish mobile apps….) Twitter has become a powerful tool for citizen journalism and making people more aware of global events.
I don’t want to discount the marketing power of Facebook. It helps billions of dollars (and other currencies) around the world exchange hand. That’s just huge. That said, there’s just something purer and more romantic about reporting world events in 140 characters or less through Twitter.
How about you? Which social network is more powerful in your opinion? Please vote in today’s poll and expand on your choice in the comments section (please!).
[poll id=”158″]
I still don’t get twitter. I have tried to use it but it all seems like an incoherent mass of inane posts. Not that FB isn’t but at least the pictures keep me entertained. Can you post pictures on Twitter? All I ever see is a bunch of spammers “following” me and I haven’t made a post in over a year probably.
Since I don’t use either, my unbiased opinion is that Facebook is more powerful for the marketing reasons you listed. The thing is that if Facebook really wanted to, they could crush Twitter or at least copy the product and introduce it to the market if Twitter ever disappeared overnight.
Twitter, on the other hand, could not easily duplicate what Facebook is. If Facebook were to ever go away in a hurry, it would leave a huge void that would probably give rise to a few different (other) social networks. Twitter, by itself, would not be able to fill that void.
Therefore, Facebook is more powerful.
-M
I personally use Twitter more than Facebook. I like the newsfeed Twitter gives me for Fantasy Football updates and tech news. It’s also a preferable way for me to share a photo or any other information using my phone. The FB app constantly hangs up, doesn’t post, loads slow, or never loads. Twitter is pretty steady. There’s something to be said for things that are simple yet effective.
I wouldn’t miss FB if it disappeared overnight….but I’d miss out on Twitter honestly. It’s such a great news source.
Twitter seems best for quick statements by companies, celebrities and people in general. However, if you want to talk with someone over the interwebs (or play Farmville), Facebook is more useful. In this case, I’ll go with what one of my friends said and say “Google+”.
I actually like Google+ better from a UI standpoint, but it’s not nearly as powerful as Facebook yet nor is it meant to be. It’s about getting more information to fuel relevant ads and socializing search (https://rpad.tv/2011/09/27/coffee-talk-403-google-vs-facebook-is-about-search/). Speaking of which, I should probably write a follow-up article to that column since Bing has implemented a bunch of Facebook features….