The use of social media such as Twitter and Facebook, has been a vital part of most people’s lives including mine. Honestly, I have never thought that I would let social media be part of my life not until three years ago, when a friend invited me to join Facebook.
Although I have only been using Facebook for three years now and joined the Twitter community five months ago, I can say that there is still so much more to learn as I go along.
Twitter vs. Facebook
If you want to reach millions of people directly and would want to send short messages called “tweets” on any topic and likewise receive tweets from other people you choose to follow, then Twitter is the right one for you.
Twitter is a “micro-blogging” site that allows you to send short messages of 140 characters or less. Twitter allows you to send messages instantly, post a link to an interesting site, and ‘re-tweet’ someone else’s post/comment for others to see.
What I also find interesting about Twitter (and which makes it totally different from Facebook) is the fact that I can know of the latest news instantly. Since I follow a certain news organization, its tweets are all about news updates which I find very useful.
As with Facebook, it’s a totally different stage. As a social networking site, you enjoy communicating with your friends much deeper by sending and receiving emails; sharing photos and videos; writing comments or updates on your wall or someone else’s wall; and even allow for a string of discussions on a certain topic. Facebook also allows you to display or share your profile with others, which eventually becomes your ‘online resume’ (at least this is what I consider it to be). The site’s extensive privacy controls allows you to control which people can view your photos, videos, wall postings, profile, etc.
So if you like to keep in touch with your old friends and classmates way back in primary years, or better yet keep in touch with fellow co-workers, then Facebook is the right one for you. The great thing about Facebook is that it allows its users to create event or fan pages. If you have an important event coming up that you want to promote online and simply create more awareness among Facebook users (and even non-Facebook users), then a Facebook event page will be a good tool for you.
How do I use each one—at least for me?
Somehow by discussing the differences between Twitter and Facebook, you are already getting a grasp on how I use each one. Most of the time, I would use Facebook just because that most of my acquaintances, friends, and family are in it. I find it easier to share what’s going on in my life with others by posting a comment on my wall which allows them to give their feedback instantly. By putting up a comment on my wall also gives me the option to share a link, photo, video, event, and others. There are also third-party applications which I used long time ago like “send your friend a smile” but later on discontinued its use after learning that these third-party suppliers are not connected with Facebook in any way and uses my personal information for the purposes of their business. Overall, I don’t feel comfortable with this. So every time I receive a request to play a game or receive a virtual gift, (except for friend and event requests), I simply ignore it so I can better protect myself from a third party accessing any part of my personal information.
And so, how about my friends and family—how do they use each one?
For them, they would use Facebook more than Twitter because their friends, colleagues, and family members are on Facebook, too. Just like how I use each one, they use Facebook more for personal stuff since they can socialize more with it by sharing personal photos and videos. On Twitter, most have a combination of ‘strangers’ following them and people that they know of personally. Generally, they would tweet of things that could be of great interest to everyone, while they would communicate personal messages through Facebook. When asked what characterizes a ‘good’ person to follow or friend, the answers I got range from people who share the same school, company, interests, or even friends (on Facebook). As with people to follow on Twitter, the criteria is more varied and loose; some would follow people who they know personally or are in the same company or network they belong to; for the others, it’s a matter of common topics they’re interested in or simply finding that person popular enough to follow.
What do these all mean for a strategic use of Facebook and Twitter on PR?
If we have an upcoming event let’s say, the launching of a children’s book, a Facebook event page can be put up to invite potential guests to come. In Facebook you will be able to include more information about the event by putting up a promotional video and even a link to the actual website. If you are hoping to get more exposure let’s say, to your target audience of university students in Manitoba, your event page will be shown on the news feed of those people who recently responded to your event by way of leaving a comment on your wall or confirming their attendance. With Facebook, you can target more specific groups or networks of people who are more likely to be your target audience.
Generally what we are looking for in here are the different behaviours of people on how and why they use Twitter and Facebook distinctly to meet their individual purposes. As it turns out, Facebook for most is for sharing more personal information, messages, and interests. It’s basically a platform to ‘present’ oneself to others. As it becomes, one’s Facebook is like an online identification card and resume, promoting one’s interests, updates, and other information to other people. So if there is any event or product that you would like to create more awareness for and more direct responses from other people, then Facebook will be a good place to start. If it’s more for creating “buzz” for your event or product, Twitter will be a good platform solely because that the way the site allows messages to be sent through (in short lengths), people will readily be notified or updated—and if interested, a link can be provided or attached by the sender along with the original post. If it’s really more for the “buzz” and for the purpose of sending out the message in a way similar to word-of-mouth (this time it’s done virtually), Twitter gives you that benefit of sending out your message instantly to the public—allowing anyone to read it and give you the benefit of having let's say, hundreds of people to read it. Twitter will be very useful if you are meaning to send out the message to the general public and get feedbacks, responses, and even leads instantly. Remember, we can create more “buzz” on Twitter if used in the right way for the purposes of your PR plan—consider using “trending topics” when needed.
Here's a fun video on social media which you may find interesting- enjoy!
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