Facebook and Twitter...What's the Deal?

Facebook and Twitter eh? What's the deal there? 

I admit, I use Facebook and Twitter for all the wrong things. I use Facebook to chat with friends and look at photos instead of doing work. I use Twitter purely to see what Bob Saget is up to. 

First off, if this is wrong, I'm not sure I want to be right. That said, I do understand that Facebook and Twitter have a ton of useful issues. I just sometimes feel they are overstated.

First off, what are Facebook and Twitter? Well reader...since you asked...

Facebook is basically a site that you can use to post pictures, information and talk to others. It is like an extension of you.  You become friends with people, you can talk to them, you can join groups etc. It is like an online version of yourself. For this reason, I like it better than Twitter which is where you post little 140 character tweets about whatever. I don't get Twitter and I don't like it. There just isn't enough you can do. Both of them have faults but at least Facebook is comprehensive and has tons to do. I can actually interact on Facebook. On Twitter, I can just tell people what I ate for breakfast.

 In my opinion, it takes a special kind of person to really use either for all of their good features; someone who is genuinely interested in PR, newtorking and the like. 

I think a lot of people still use Facebook to "creep" other people's profiles, try and get dates, post rowdy pics and chat with buds. Ok fine, by "a lot" I mean pretty much everyone I know.

None of my friends use Facebook to communicate or network or do anything like that really. They use it as a time filler. There are still some major kinks to be worked out before that changes, I think. Right now, Facebook is too much like a playground. There's too much to do that is fun but just wastes time. It really needs to be tightened up if it is going to be used for what a lot of people say it should be used for.

Maybe I am not professional enough yet? Who knows. I just see Facebook more as fun than as productive and I think a lot of people feel the same. 

If Facebook has problems with people not using them effectively, than Twitter is a train wreck. 

Very few people use Twitter for anything other than following celebrities. The celebrities just use it because they are self centered ego-maniacs.

Twitter could be used to tweet on major issues and share super useful information with others but, with the exception of a minority, is it? Not really. Unless you count how many guns Gil Arenas bought today as useful...

To sum up:

Facebook can be super useful in PR by allowing you to learn a lot about someone, see what interests them and what interests large blocks of people, make a page for your organization with features you think will attract an audience etc. 

It can also be a way to try and pick up chicks and look at photos from your drunken escapades.

Sadly, the latter seems to have too much control and I think it will be a while before this changes.

Twitter can also be useful with bite sized news, links to solid information and the ability to follow people you can learn from.

It can also provide you with a chance to see what hair gel John Stamos used last night.

In this way, I don't really see Facebook and Twitter as competing with one another. They are both striving to be the best they can in being effective social media outlets. They do it different ways but their goals are the same. They both want to bring people together in effective ways. Unfortunately, the features they offer are easily manipulated into pointless time wasting exercises that are just easier for the audience. Down the road, they may have to make some changes to truly be what they want. I think Facebook is closer to the destination, but still has some way to go.

In closing, Facebook and Twitter are big in the present but are also the future. Until more of us really understand what they are about and stopping using them to mess around (I include myself), that future will always be just out of reach.

Cheers.

keith