Twitter vs. Facebook: Connecting or Publishing?

I have a theory about the difference between Facebook and Twitter. Facebook is a platform for connecting with people we actually know. When we make these connections, we begin sharing things about our lives, families and hobbies. Interaction on Facebook is all about relationships. Twitter has become a format on which people publish items of interest for general consumption – yes relationship building is somewhat important, but these relationships are usually based on mutual interest. I mean, we may know very few of the people we follow on Twitter, but often care a great deal about what they say or whom they reference on a particular subject.

When I get online, I do so for the purpose of learning something, finding new information or being challenged to think. This means I rarely find Facebook compelling. Sounds harsh I know…but my idea of personal connection goes far beyond a simple status update or messaging session. This is not to say it doesn’t have value or even moments of helpfulness. However, generally speaking I find it incapable of fulfilling its purpose on almost every level.

Twitter has another appeal altogether. Follow the right people and receive an endless supply of quality links, quotes and ideas. The absence of need for personal relationship allows maximum potential for interaction on niche topics or industries. Those who fail to publish interesting items on a regular basis can be unfollowed – not because they are no longer your friend, but because they did not produce worthy content.

Before I go further, I should be quick to acknowledge there are many more relationship-oriented web users than content-consumers like myself. That majority will feel very differently about the two services. They will point me to Facebook pages to meet my informational requirements and ask that I interact more and give the format a chance. There is merit in both of those suggestions and I do indeed see their point. Still, I doubt I will ever find an appreciation for most of the activity on Facebook.

I must insist that those who sit down at their computers much like they would open their morning newspaper or monthly periodical will find Twitter far more appealing. Even in its bite-sized chunks, the format lends itself to ongoing learning and discussion.

In the end it depends on what your purpose is for being online. Do you want to publish and consume content or build and maintain relationships? I find myself very much in the former camp and will therefore remain a loyal Twitter user, while rarely accessing or using Facebook.

Twitter Users Should Try HootSuite

I find myself increasingly moving away from desktop applications for managing online accounts. Most of the popular Twitter clients have to be downloaded and opened along with the browser and e-mail programs I am already using. The last thing I need or want is more software running in the background. That’s why I choose, when functions I require are available, to use online apps like HootSuite.

Here are a few of the advantages HootSuite has over most of the competition:

The ability to schedule tweets.

I like to check my feed reader once in the morning, so it doesn’t distract me through the rest of my day. Usually I find several articles worth passing along on Twitter, but don’t want to send them out three or four at a time. With HootSuite I can schedule the first to post at lunch, the second in the late afternoon and the third in the evening. If I find one part of the day results in more clicks I can adjust, sending future tweets at half-hour intervals during the optimum time period.

Built-in stats for tracking links.

This is the key feature for knowing when and how to tweet for maximum impact. Any links that are shortened within HootSuite using their native service Ow.ly can then be tracked within the program’s dashboard.  It records the number of clicks in total, or for any particular post in a given period. Anyone trying to avoid wasting time and effort on items of little interest to followers will find this invaluable.

Multiple account management.

I am running three Twitter accounts full-time. Very few programs offer a convienent and intuitive interface for accomplishing this. HootSuite uses a combination of tabs and columns that will be familiar to almost any user, limiting the learning curve and effort it requires to become efficient. None of its competitors can match its simplicty and ease of use with multiple accounts.

For those of us seeking to minister to people online without sacrificing valuable face to face outreach time, HootSuite is a top choice. We want to maximize every effort, monitor its effectiveness and spend as little time as possible learning the ropes. HootSuite hits a homerun on each of those counts.

Building a Presence

We are taking the advice we will likely give many of our clients: begin interacting and buiding a presence on some of the higher quality social networking sites. I wouldn’t just choose the top five and create an account however, as the most popular are not always the best for your personality or objectives. We chose networks we feel offer the best technology in their respective niche or provide a feature we can’t easily recreate on our own site.

Take a look at all of our accounts over at FriendFeed (one of our favorites). Perhaps we’ll take a more in-depth look at the reason we chose these services in a future post. In the meantime sign in or sign up and look for us under the username Abounding. It’s likely we’re already engaged in a conversation about using the internet to reach people for Christ.