Compare and Contrast: Twitter vs. Facebook

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It’s funny how the universe throws things at you. Over the last few weeks, I’ve come across several different sources that all recommend updating your Twitter account and your Facebook status separately. That was news to me. I’ve been allowing Twitter to post my tweets to Facebook for a long time and thought it was just too convenient to pass up. Of course, I supplemented my facebook feed with additional, more personal information, but I couldn’t see the harm in letting Twitter updates show up there too. Well, I thought about it some more, and now I’m a convert. Let’s explore in some detail how Twitter and Facebook differ and why you just might want to take the time to post to each site separately. Tone 140 characters? Seriously? Yep, that’s all Twitter gives you to make your point. Personally, I think Twitter helps you become a better writer for this very reason. However, it also forces you to be concise. Maybe clipped. Woah, I’m doing it right now. Facebook, on the other hand, is conversational in tone. You can type for a quite a while in that status box before it cuts you off. You can use this to your advantage by taking the long way around. Work up to something, or tell a more sophisticated joke, if that’s your thing. Here’s an example from my very own stream: Tweet Should you market your business on facebook? http://bit.ly/buRUQg Facebook Status Thinking about setting up a facebook page for your business? Not sure if you’re ready to take the plunge? Gauge your readiness here: http://bit.ly/buRUQg How do these posts differ? The tweet gets to the point a whole lot quicker, while the Facebook status provides more context and sells the link a little more. This is important because Twitter users are really just scanning while Facebook users tend to take more time to review the items in their streams. Frequency of

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