Twitter is More Important Than Facebook

Twitter is a social networking site founded by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, and Biz Stone. What some people may not realize is Twitter is more than four years old. But, thanks to recent attention from celebrities and major corporations it has turned into one of the most popular social networking websites. I'm here today to tell you that Twitter is more important than Facebook. What I mean is in the long run Twitter will overtake Facebook as the most popular means of online communication.

How?

As of right now Facebook is becoming so bogged down with ads/apps/crap no one cares about. Twitter on the other hand is very simple. You create an account, "follow" whomever you want, and only have to be subjected to what they have to say. If you get annoyed with what someone you follow is saying it's very easy to "unfollow" them. This makes it very easy for the users of Twitter to limit the information they receive and puts the user in control.

Twitter also capitalizes on the world's obsession with celebrities. For example, I follow Kanye West (@kanyewest). Where else can I get an up to the minute feed of what Ye is thinking about? Or read his 40-tweet-long apology to Taylor Swift and everyone else for his attitude and behavior? Or see him tweeting at Justin Bieber about getting together in the studio? The answer is nowhere. He may post some of it on his blog, but because Twitter is so easily accessible it's the obvious choice. Twitter will ultimately rule in regards to people's source of information about their friends/co-workers/favorite celebs.

Let's face it; Facebook is obviously struggling for ideas right now. New features in the past year have just been copies of what other sites have done. Take the Facebook "Marketplace" for example. Sure it's cool that you can purchase things from your friends and people you actually know, but it does seem a lot like Craig's List and eBay.  Facebook Chat is clearly crappy AOL Instant Messenger that rarely works. Then there is the ability to "tag" people in your status update by simply adding "@" before their name. This is clearly a rip-off of Twitter's basic concept. More recently Facebook has introduced user's ability to update their location using GPS technology in smart phones. This smells a lot like Foursquare (launched over a year ago) to me. Aside from "liking" things, Facebook has not had an original idea in years.

Twitter also beats out Facebook in terms of advertising.  You can follow restaurants and other companies who may offer a special or coupon exclusively to their followers on Twitter.  Scotty's Brewhouse (@brewhouse) offers a discount on weekdays during lunch for people who mention them in a tweet.  Scotty's founder came and spoke here at Ball State on the importance of Twitter in terms of his marketing.  Scotty's does not purchase any print ads, but relies solely on word of mouth and social networking sites.  Twitter is a much better way to advertise than Facebook.

I'm not saying Facebook will die. Obviously past sites like Xanga and Myspace are still around but they have become less important. What I'm saying is that because of Twitter's simplicity, accessibility, and marketability it will eventually overtake Facebook.


Follow me on Twitter: @tylerclements