What really is "Twitter" and "Face Book"? How does it work?

[Russell Scott]

And why do we need it? What does it suppose to do? My son tries to explain it and I get so confused.......maybe my age or not enthusiastic really?? lol....I don't know. Can you help me please? lol lol

[Garrett]

Twitter- Way too confusing for me to even understand.

Facebook- is a free-access social networking website that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. Users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with other people. People can also add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. The website's name refers to the paper facebooks depicting members of a campus community that some US colleges and preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, and staff as a way to get to know other people on campus.

[Thunderousclover697]

facecook not face book and it is a website for making friends try it it's great and free

[sage seeker]

Twitter I know nothing about and don't plan to learn either! LOL I get the impression it is most liked by the texting folk! Short IM type entries..purpose? Who knows!

I AM on Facebook, but only to 'snoop' on my grandkids pages...LOL. The site and its navigation and its purpose truly escape me!

Far as I'm concerned it just opens one to more public 'vision' and more email spam. Not for me, really. I'll stick to email and here.

[Miz D]

I know nothing about Twitter.

I can tell you about Facebook. I signed up for Facebook a few years ago so I could easily keep in touch with my nephews and nieces. They were young college students at the time and lived in distant states. The best way I can describe it would be an online bulletin board. Your friends can see all the pictures and all the comments posted on your bulletin board and you can see everything on theirs. You can also send private messages to each other. You have to be invited to be someone's friend. Many people keep their profiles private so strangers can't snoop. There are also games and quizzes, and many other things to play with on the site. Be careful about opening some of the ads featured because you get caught up in an endless cycle of junk email from those sites. It is free. Without Facebook I'm sure I would have absolutely no contact with my young relatives. So I think it is worth venturing into new territory to maintain the family ties. They tell me they like seeing the family Christmas pictures and grandkid pictures I post/share on Facebook.

Good luck. I think you would like it if you decide to try it. Many senior adults now have Facebook accounts to now so you could search for a long lost friend there. My childhood babysitter found me by typing in my maiden name. We knew each other when I was 6 to 8 years old and she was a teenager but had great memories about the evenings she came over to babysit me and my younger brothers.

[Inundated in SF]

"Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?" And I think you can "chat" in real time (that is, the person/people logged into the page can see what you are typing as you type and can respond immediately--sort of like texting I would assume).

Facebook, to me anyway, is just another way to expose yourself to a whole bunch of strangers, to promote yourself, to divulge more information then is wise. I use Facebook to spy on my nieces and nephews to see what they are up to (because they forget that anyone can lurk around without announcing themselves and read their page--and when my nephew told his mom & dad "please don't sign up with Facebook, respect my privacy", although they are respecting his privacy, I can go read his page. I also have a niece who travels to a lot of underdeveloped areas and I can keep up with her doings by logging into her page. I however never post on Facebook, I'm just peeping.

[Barb]

Twitter is a quick way to more or less chat about nothing. I'm on Facebook, but to me it is kind of boring, like my Myspace better, at least you can do it up the way you like and change it the next day, if you want. Still keep in touch with friends or family, so I use it more than anything else.

[Half Drawn Boy]

I haven't heard of Twitter. Facebook is just a social networking site where you can interact, share pictures, comments, ideas, games etc with your friends.

[River]

i am 17 and i dislike all of those sites- i find it boring but its just for communication