What are the differences between Facebook and Twitter?

[kombat17]

While zealots will immediately point to either Twitter or Facebook as being superior, the truth is that each has its advantages and disadvantages and will tend to appeal more to different types of people and for different reasons. Each can have great or little value to anyone; it really depends on what you are trying to accomplish in a given situation. Consider some of the pros and cons of each network:
Twitter Pros

* Easy to navigate and update, link to and promote anything
* Reach far beyond your inner circle of friends
* One feed pools all users; anyone can follow anyone else unless blocked
* Pure communication tool, rapid responsiveness
* You don’t have to be logged in to get updates; you can just use an RSS reader
* Very interactive, extensible messaging platform with open APIs
* Many other applications being developed (Twitterific, Summize, Twhirl, etc.)
* Potential SMS text messaging revenue from wireless networks (although Twitter states they are not currently getting any cut)
* Potential future advertising and/or enterprise subscription-based revenue streams
* With its “thin” overhead, Twitter is probably more scalable than Facebook, giving it a cost advantage

Twitter Cons

* Limited functionality; find people, send brief messages, direct replies
* Limited to 140 characters per update
* Not all people find it immediately useful
* Over-emphasis on follower counts
* Easily abused for spam and increasing the noise level
* Relatively smaller installed user base
* As yet no readily apparent monetization strategy

Facebook Pros

* Application mashup; find people, make connections, email, instant messaging, image/video sharing, etc.
* Most people can quickly grasp the value of connecting with friends, family and established contacts; some people report they use Facebook instead of email and IM
* More emphasis on deep connections with others vs. who has the most connections
* “True Friends” feature increases your transparency to selected connections; almost like having private and public profiles
* Huge, rapidly growing installed user base
* Inherit stickiness, third party applications, “gift giving” and personal data collection make Facebook a powerful advertising platform

Facebook Cons

* More difficult to navigate and update
* Requires investment of time to realize sustained benefit
* Opt in model requires a user to allow others to connect
* Less immediate responses; unless you stay logged on continually
* Overhead of mashup and “thick” applications could limit
scalability, bloat cost structure