Comments on: Twitter in the Crosshairs: Facebook’s Gambit

By: Weighing in on the Twitterbook Controversy. « SNAP’s Blog

Weighing in on the Twitterbook Controversy. « SNAP’s Blog — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:58:35 +0000

[...] Social Networking | Tags: Buzz Bin, Facebook, Lifestreaming, Twitter | After reading the Buzz Bin’s post about the new Facebook changes that bear a striking resemblance to Twitter, I’ve decided to finally weigh in. (Because I [...]

By: SmartBlog On Social Media » Blog Archive » This week’s most clicked

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:43:55 +0000

[...] The new (yet eerily familiar) face of Facebook [...]

By: Facebook becomes more Twitter-like « Okonomibloggy

Facebook becomes more Twitter-like « Okonomibloggy — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 03:24:02 +0000

[...] 18, 2009 · No Comments Geoff Livingston gives a quick overview of the recent Facebook changes, putting them in the context of how social networking has evolved. [...]

By: Holly Powell

Holly Powell — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 02:17:33 +0000

Well i think Twitter can not please all of it’s users. So I think Twitter user should look on a more positive and brighter side of it.. Each person has different preferences after all.

By: Facebook Redesign: Filter the Clutter with Lists

Facebook Redesign: Filter the Clutter with Lists — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:03:48 +0000

[...] redesign. One commenter from Livingston Communications’ The Buzz Bin article, Twitter in the Crosshairs, called it “the Twitterfication of Facebook”. This translation expresses the most [...]

By: social media marketing

social media marketing — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:39:57 +0000

Wow Facebook is doing awesome. Twitter has been taking off like crazy in the new year hasn’t it. I wonder if twitter could pass myspace. I wouldn’t be surprised with some of the new features they are working on.

By: Michelle Evans

Michelle Evans — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:30:53 +0000

I think Daniel Jeffers point (in your FB stream) was the most impacting to me – I agree with him. I enjoy that I can connect on Twitter with people I’d never meet any other way or, in some cases, never dream of meeting. I like that Facebook works the same way but, for me, is a completely different conversation. It’s a place where I connect with closer friends, share our outings and thoughts about every day stuff, personal stuff, faith stuff, goofy stuff. The privacy settings allow me to decide who gets to see that more personal part of my life’ that’s something I dont’ want from Twitter.

I like the new FB feed. There are things I don’t like about it, but the ability to comment on each item in a threaded manner is great, as is the ability to give something a simple thumbs up. However, I was just commenting yesterday that they should add a “share” beside every entry for easy re-posting or RTing or RFBing or whatever we will call it. I think it will have users using more frequently, which is likely one of Facebook’s objectives.

By: Mark Drapeau

Mark Drapeau — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:21:58 +0000

Of course this assumes that Facebook users want Twitter functionality. I might short-sell that one.

By: CathyLarkin (@CathyWebSavvyPR)

CathyLarkin (@CathyWebSavvyPR) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:15:08 +0000

One stat that may not be clear in your chart is the exponential growth of Twitter. Note that Twitter moved from #22 to #3 in one month. Twitter has gone from .5 million to 6 million users in less than a year (I believe). Both stats were before it’s recent publicity on Nightline, various NPR programs, Several New York Times and Wall Street Journal stories, and being mentioned on The Ellen Show, and The View twice. I’d be interested to see Marches numbers. Granted – Twitter is unlikely to knock Facebook off it’s spot any time soon, but it seems to be moving fast. However, Facebook was on Oprah (after the aborted Twitter takeover, and as they were launching new interface). I agree that Facebook’s installed user base, and their new interface might make for a comparison to Microsoft vs Apple. I doubt that Twitter will knock Facebook off it’s post the way Google did Netscape, but they are not both search engines (as G & N were) – they are both fruit, but they are not exactly both apples – to use an analogy badly. They both connect people to each other, but in different ways.

What makes Twitter more appealing to many, is that it is easier to connect with interesting strangers who have similar interests (a mix of business and personal interests), as you are not opening your whole life to them as you kind of do on Facebook (unless you play around with the privacy features). On Twitter all you are giving someone is the 140 character posts you choose to put up, and a short bio and one link. No Email, no Phone #, no access to your family, no photos unless you choose them. On Facebook I hear people saying – “who is that – I don’t know them, so I’m not going the ‘friend’ them.” On Twitter “it’s – who is that? Hmm, they share cool info, I’ll ‘follow’ them.” What makes Twitter work is the interaction with others and the ability to discover new people organically. If Twitter could make that easier to understand from day one, that might make it grow ever faster!

The problem I see with Twitter’s growth, is that it SEEMS like it should be easy/intuitive when you first try it, but it isn’t to everyone. I’ve seen many new folks try it (by monitoring Titter search) and not get it, but never click the help tab. The @replies arrow and tab are not intuitive. I’d be curious to see the # of new accounts started and abandoned. If Twitter added a hover tool tip (that you could turn on/off in settings) – that would help tremendously.

Geoff, I hope to see you in Philly March 23rd!

By: Cam Beck

Cam Beck — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:01:58 +0000

“I wonder if Twitter thinks they should have sold to Facebook now?”

What a perfect “Now is Gone” moment. Say… that would make a great title for a book…