Sunday, June 14, 2015

Twitter != Facebook

I've been an active member of Twitter for about two years.  My Twitter account on the other hand is five years old.  I started it in January 2010 and after a few days I just let it sit.  I didn't know anybody on Twitter and nobody knew me.  So I went back to Facebook.

But I never actually forgot about my account.  Whenever something big happened (Cablegate, Occupy Wall Street, Bones Season 5 finale). I would log in and follow the latest developments.  And sometimes I would snark at the major players.

Then I would go back to Facebook where my friends could be found.

Thing is, I don't actually like Facebook.  I use it because it is the best way to keep up with my friends and far flung family, but between the privacy settings and the constantly changing Wall algorithms my feelings for the site concerned range between annoyance and creeped out.

I do like Twitter though.  It's fast pace, ever-changing and *anonymous*.  I don't have to use my real name there.  Which is why when I started pulling documents for the Prenda case, I directed people to my Twitter feed.  I've been active ever since. 

I see Twitter and Facebook as different sides of the same coin.  Want to know what is happening in a breaking news story -- go to Twitter.  Want to see pictures of your best friend's new baby?  Go to Facebook.  The two sites are only competitors in the eyes of the investors who are trying to force Twitter to more like Facebook.

Which isn't to say the site is perfect.  I would have liked to have illustrated this post with examples of my earliest tweets but it would have taken me two hours to scroll that far back.  On the other hand, at least I don't have to worry about missing something because I haven't posted on someone's wall in X number of days.

If I could give advice to Twitter it would be, "Don't compete with Facebook.  Compete with yourself.  Make the Twitter of Tomorrow better than it is today."

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