SMC of SLC

I woke up this morning with a genuine sense of excitement – politics aside, I love tradition, pomp and ceremony. I love it so much, that four years ago, while living in DC, I was one of the crazies standing in a pile of snow, craning my neck to see around the only tree still bearing leaves on Capitol Hill. The best part was the running commentary of the friends and strangers around me. Nothing says “share your opinion” quite like a political event in DC.

This time, because I’m not permanently crazy, I participated in the pomp and ceremony virtually via an NPR audio feed in my office. I did not have to sacrifice the live, running commentary, however, of my fellow revelers. I merely logged into Twhirl and my Twitter accounts came alive with global one-liners from friends, colleagues and complete strangers. (Of course, the best part was this time I was inside and toasty warm).

Between Twitter and Facebook, I participated in a lively debate, found out that whatever Malia Obama was wearing was labeled “adorable” by several people and realized that NPR had less of a delay than many of the other live streaming sources.

As I was doing so, I thought about the other hot topic was over the weekend: Twitter v. Facebook.

While most of the country sat on the edges of their seats waiting to see history made, several “in the know” social media gurus were engaging in a debate of technologies, reminding me of my sandbox “My dad is better than your dad” days.

Still, it’s worth mentioning. 

David Pogue, a tech columnist for the New York Times,  weighed in with a list of “Twittering Tips for Beginners,” where he examined the good, bad and ugly of sharing your life’s insights 140 characters at a time. He concluded,

“[Twitter is] also a brilliant channel for breaking news, asking questions, and attaining one step of separation from public figures you admire. No other communications channel can match its capacity for real-time, person-to-person broadcasting.”

On the other side, Alan Wolk, a Social Media Consultant, who asks, “Will Facebook Be the Death of Twitter?” he spends his post comparing the virtues of Facebook against the vices of Twitter, concluding (in an update posted as a response to commenters):

“We’re wondering why Facebook doesn’t launch something very much like Twitter using the Facebook Status Updates feature. (e.g. a free standing app that auto-updates a la Twhirl or Tweetdeck.) The difference would be that on the Facebook version, the conversation would be between people who all knew each other, wheras on Twitter it’s often between strangers.

My take is that there would be room for both, but the Facebook version would be much more popular, given the over 30 crowd’s aversion to strangers online and desire to spend what time they have connecting with their existing networks.”

A third article, in Fast Company, skips the debate and just points out Twitter’s flaws, asking, “Will Twitter Become the Next Friendster?” It highlights the fact that the company’s founders have done little themselves to create community, although that is the proclaimed purpose of the service; notes the recent very public security breeches and warns of intense up-and-coming competition, nipping at Twitter’s heels.

One theory is that the very ability to connect strangers is what creates Twitter’s allure and strength – not to mention the ability to search Tweets.

One maintains that people connecting with people they know (such as via Facebook) creates more depth, more relevence and more sway, as the entire conversation is in context – and available to everyone else who knows the conversation’s originator. Wolk says,

“I’m sharing all of these things with actual friends, people with whom I have a real world relationship. That means I can put all of their output into context, something I can’t really do with complete strangers on Twitter.”

I believe I fall somewhere in the middle – certain that Twitter must have some major evolutionary shift and clarify it’s focus, purpose and redefine the “community” it set out to create.  On the other hand, I learn far more professional information from strangers on Twitter than I do from my friends on Facebook – who largely share opinions, pictures of their children and gossipy tidbits. Nothing wrong with that, but I see a definite unique value in each tool – if only they can clarify those values for their users enough to sustain a business model for each.

What do you think? Twitter? Facebook? Something else? I’m interested to continue this debate among our members.

-Sara
@sarabanut
@operationkids