Creating a social buzz is important to businesses and entrepreneurs alike these days. There are a vast number of social tools out there to get the job done, but none are more popular than Facebook and Twitter. While the two can boast big numbers of daily users, there are some pretty significant differences in capabilities for each, and knowing which is going to provide you the social buzz you crave is an important step.
With more than 400 million users, Facebook seems like the obvious place to start creating your social presence and building influence. But is Facebook right for you?
Pros
– Facebook Fan pages allow your customers to gather in one place to share their common interest in your product or service.
– Facebook allows for the conversation to occur in one convenient place. These conversations can take place in the comments section of your status updates or your link, video and photo updates.
– When a user joins your group, that fact travels to the live feeds of that user’s friends. Chances are, those friends will check out what page their friend found good enough to join. This is great because Facebook does all the viral work for you.
– Facebook Fan pages provide you with valuable analytics, which will allow you to specifically target your status updates or link posts.
– The success of your fan page doesn’t necessarily depend on your creation of original content. A Facebook Fan page will survive and thrive just fine by linking to other information sources your fans will find valuable.
Cons
– Fans of your page on Facebook can become finicky. Facebook fans don’t really have the patience for multiple updates throughout the day. The reasoning behind this is that, unlike Twitter, an update will likely stay in a user’s live feed for a few hours (depending on their number of friends and fan page follows). If a user goes into his live feed and there are five or six updates from your fan page, you could end up losing that fan. There’s a fine line on Facebook between informing your fans and spamming them.
– Facebook doesn’t have a repeat (or retweet) function. Therefore, if your fans like something you post, they have no ability to share it with their friends.
– The process for a fan to suggest your page to their friends can be more than Facebook users are willing to do for you. The suggestion option allows users to go through their friends list and check off those they’d like to suggest your page to. It seems like a lot to ask your fans to go through, and there’s something about it that feels like spam to a lot of users.
– What a fan writes on your page will stick. This can be a horrific thought for some of you, but it’s best to keep away from the privacy settings. Still, it’s important to realize that what someone writes on your wall, good or bad, will be there for all your fans to see. Control of the message is nearly impossible on Facebook. But whatever you do, keep far away from the “delete” button, unless the message is inappropriate, obscene or spam.
Twitter doesn’t have nearly the number of active users Facebook can brag about, but it does have its share of merits. Is microblogging right for you?
Pros
– If you create your own content, Twitter is the perfect place to promote it. By using keywords and hashtags when posting your content, you can be seen by a lot of people. Twitter is a great tool to help your blog grow.
– Twitter allows users to retweet each other, which is basically a repeat of a tweet with credit given to the original tweeter. By using this function, you are offering value to your followers while also giving a virtual nod to the content’s originator.
– Twitter search not only helps users find information they find valuable; it will also help people find those who share common interests. If you include keywords in your bio and tweet using keywords, people can easily find and connect with you.
– The @reply function provides for interaction. Twitter keeps all the @replies for you in one convenient place, so you can always see who’s trying to get your attention.
– With the popularity of Twitter, several third-party Twitter address books, like WeFollow and Twellow, have popped up. Along with Twitter search, these directories can really help you find people with common interests and start building your social buzz.
– Twitter gives you creative freedom in your profile. You can easily design your background the way you want it to look. There are a good number of choices that come with Twitter, but there are Web sites out there that allow you to create your own or choose from hundreds of different designs.
Cons
– Twitter keeps things short and sweet. This could be a pro depending on which way you look at things, but I put it here because you will really have to think about what you say. Those 140 characters are extremely valuable, and thinking of exactly how to word your tweets to maximize value can be tricky. Twitter is definitely not the place to dump copious amounts of information at once.
– Growing your following properly is best maximized by creating your own content. That means starting a blog if you don’t have one already. Blogging about your interests and then tweeting the link is a great way to build your following, but if you’re blog-less, it becomes more difficult to stand out from the rest of the tweeters.
– The conversation can really get all over the place. There are some great chats that take place on Twitter using the hashtag function, but these chats tend to be promoted and created beforehand with a set start time. The probability of impromptu conversation between you and several people is low without the use of a hashtag. Of course, a hashtag would have to be agreed upon ahead of time, so overall, conversation on Twitter can be a bit of a challenge.
– There’s an awful lot of automation on Twitter. Some people will tell you that automating tweets and follower lists is the way to go, but it’s so far against the spirit of social media. Many of the people you follow, or even those following you, could be using automation systems to do the tweeting for them. If that’s the case, you’re better off talking to a wall. You’d probably get more interaction doing that.
– Twitter is working on things, but it can be an unreliable site at times. If big news breaks and a mass of Twitter users rushes to tweet about it, the site has a tendency to go down, meaning you’ll see the dreaded Fail Whale. Also, Twitter has experienced a nasty rash of spam and phishing schemes lately. We’ve seen spam and other security issues lead to the downfall of several previous social networking sites. If Twitter isn’t able to get that under control, it could be next.
The verdict
The decision to use Facebook or Twitter or both is largely dependent on what you want to accomplish. If you’re the type that wants to start convenient conversations and contribute to them, a Facebook Fan page is likely the way you want to go. If you are constantly creating your own content and looking to promote it, Twitter is definitely the tool for you. If both of those scenarios speak to what you want to accomplish through social media, then both Facebook and Twitter profiles could help you out a lot.
The key here is to determine — before you even think about signing up for Facebook or Twitter — what you want to get out of your social experience. Have a clear plan and strategy for your social presence. Then, you will be able to choose which is the best way to build social buzz for you or your company.
Great article you beat me to the punch!
I did one on Facebook vs LinkedIn a while ago: http://idaconcpts.com/2009/12/31/linkedin-vs-fa…
Nowadays, I think that Twitter is more comparable to Google Buzz but then again, you're right on the money when saying “is largely dependent on what you want to accomplish.”
Apples to oranges. FB is for connecting with friends and family. Twitter is for networking with people with similar interests.
twitter is better for social , facebook is better for business and organizations
Excellent comparison. The whole post is spot on and, of many bits that got me thinking, “There’s a fine line on Facebook between informing your fans and spamming them” is so, so, true. I bet we've all 'un-fanned' from a page because of too many updates in a short space of time.
That said. I have also unfollowed (on Twitter) for the same reason. 20 Tweets by the same person in a couple of minutes is crossing that fine line too.
Nice breakdown ….thank you for this.
While I have a Facebook Profile, I have had very limited success with a fan page, and at this stage of the game I would rather have people coming to my fledgling little corner of the Internet than to a page dedicated to it. I'm a Twitterholic, though. If I have an idea for something to write and produce later, it's the perfect place to put a “trial balloon” for material. If I get any pin action on it, then it's something I can count on for a segment later.
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