Twitter vs. The World
Twitter’s been in the news the last couple of days. Someone asked me if the new Facebook changes would be a threat to Twitter. I wasn’t able to give a sufficient reason for why I think it doesn’t in 140 characters so I’ll respond here.
First off, Twitter is more than just email. If all you use Twitter for is to reply/direct message people, then yes, Twitter is a poor man email (who can’t afford a smartphone so he can do it from any SMS capable phone). But it’s more than that. It has the public interface that lets anyone follow you. It’s a quick way to disseminate information in a public format. Email isn’t designed for that. You can also follow people you’ve never met before and receive information from them. Email has to be pushed, Twitter is pulled.
With regards to Facebook, all I know of the new FB homepage is what I saw on their preview therefore my views might not be valid. The new homepage gives you a feed appearance where people can post pictures, links, etc. ala Twitter style. However, I think Twitter has some advantages over Facebook. For starters Facebook has a ‘black-hole model’. You can import data into Facebook but you cannot export data. This is Facebook’s biggest limitation but necessary for their financial model. They need people to visit their site to generate advertisement revenue. Twitter and other sites like Flickr allow other sites to import their data. Last I checked, Facebook wouldn’t let me export anything I did on their site as a feed.
The open model of Twitter allows for multiple interfaces. There are many applications and devices (phones) that allow you to update your Twitter. Facebook starts and stops with their website. You can also export Twitter data. I can have my Twitter feed on my website. All my Facebook information is stuck there. If I want to view something, I have to visit the Facebook site. I can get Tweets straight to my IM client or phone if I so desire. I never have to visit the Twitter website.
The limited interface is what separates Twitter from Facebook. If Facebook allowed users to export their Facebook data and opened up their inputs, then Twitter would be in trouble.
Twitter’s just gotten started. One neat thing I saw with Twitter was Realtime Twitter Searches with Google You can supplement your search with Twitter searches. You can get live coverage from events. Twitter’s open system will allow for many new capabilities in the future. I feel Twitter’s just gotten started while Facebook is trying to keep relevance.
IMHO.
“You can import data into Facebook but you can export data. ”
i think you forgot the word ‘not’ in there somewhere.