When the conversation turns to social media (which it often does when I’m around) it invariably turns to the Facebook vs. Twitter debate. For some reason, when talking about social media, we try to compare various platforms, and I’m just as guilty of this as anyone.
But the beauty of social media, is that it’s not all about competition. There is room for a variety of social media sites, and I think at this point in time, there’s no reason to force a debate between these particular two sites.
Here’s why:
Different platforms – Facebook and Twitter are very different platforms, designed to do very different things. A Facebook vs. MySpace debate is much more understandable. But overall, even if Facebook and Twitter work to incorporate various features from one another, they are still very different animals. Which leads to…
Synergy – Social media platforms and networks do not exist in a vacuum. Social media works best when you are able to integrate a variety of platforms into an overall marketing mix. I find that Twitter and Facebook work extremely well together, more so than any other social media pairing. If you know what you are doing, you can really utilize the best features and attributes of both, while also incorporating your website, blogging, and other online elements into the mix.
Social media is in flux – Facebook today is not the same as Facebook tomorrow. Same goes for Twitter and any other social media. The developers of these networks are smart enough to realize that our “in real life” social lives are in constant flux, and therefore our online social networks move around a lot as well. This constant state of digital micro-evolution allows us to take advantage of various social media sites in different ways at different times. Any social network that hopes to survive understands the need for constant tinkering and change.
So there really is no reason for anyone to debate between these two networks, or even have to choose one over the other.
The real questions are:
- How well will each of these various platforms adapt to better serve the needs of their users?
- How will they remain competitive against other, more similar platforms?
- How will they continue to grow, both in member numbers and time spent?
- How will they remain, or become, financially viable?
What are your thoughts?
Related posts:
