Twitter Vs Facebook - a Comparison of the Two Social Networking Sites
Both Facebook and Twitter are social networking tools. But while they have many similarities, they are different in many ways. Are the two competing for the same audience?
Content shared on Twitter is likely to always be different than content shared on Facebook. Twitter only submits text posts, while essentially all forms of media can be posted on Facebook.
Advertising
Facebook's advertising business is largely based on targeting users according to information they declare in their Facebook profile. Currently, Twitter profiles contain sparse biographical data and basic follower/following statistics. Twitter's business model is unlikely to be based on profile targeting.
E-Commerce
Facebook is in the process of alpha testing a payments system built on top of Facebook identity. In the future, it could spread its payment platform across all websites which connect to and rely on Facebook identity through Facebook Connect. Twitter is still a ways off from building its own commerce system on top of the Twitter platform, but interesting payment applications are starting to develop on top of Twitter like we've seen on the Facebook Platform for the last couple of years.
Summary
Facebook and Twitter actually look like pretty different products and businesses today. Twitter is a hybrid broadcast/conversation communication platform, while Facebook is an identity platform with communication, content distribution, and financial applications built on top of it. Unless Twitter gives users more Facebook-like control over different parts of their identity, Twitter is going to have a hard time serving those users who are more sensitive to security in addition to those aiming for more visibility.
Content shared on Twitter is likely to always be different than content shared on Facebook. Twitter only submits text posts, while essentially all forms of media can be posted on Facebook.
Advertising
Facebook's advertising business is largely based on targeting users according to information they declare in their Facebook profile. Currently, Twitter profiles contain sparse biographical data and basic follower/following statistics. Twitter's business model is unlikely to be based on profile targeting.
E-Commerce
Facebook is in the process of alpha testing a payments system built on top of Facebook identity. In the future, it could spread its payment platform across all websites which connect to and rely on Facebook identity through Facebook Connect. Twitter is still a ways off from building its own commerce system on top of the Twitter platform, but interesting payment applications are starting to develop on top of Twitter like we've seen on the Facebook Platform for the last couple of years.
Summary
Facebook and Twitter actually look like pretty different products and businesses today. Twitter is a hybrid broadcast/conversation communication platform, while Facebook is an identity platform with communication, content distribution, and financial applications built on top of it. Unless Twitter gives users more Facebook-like control over different parts of their identity, Twitter is going to have a hard time serving those users who are more sensitive to security in addition to those aiming for more visibility.
Source: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2025846/twitter_vs_facebook_a_comparison_of.html?cat=15
