The phenomenon of social networking fascinates me. Although still in it’s beginning stages it remains to be seen which one will be most successful, which one will be a passing phase, which one will make money, which one will be blown out of the water by the next best thing. I for one am a Facebook user so I had do some research on this whole twitter thing which I really don’t get, yet still felt the need to discuss.
Facebook appeals to people looking to reconnect with old friends and family members or find new friends online. You can email, instant message, share images and video’s. It simply feels familiar to me, easy to use, user friendly. Twitter is just too much for my brain to wrap around. Or, maybe I haven’t given Twitter a chance?
Most people can very quickly grasp how to use Facebook to connect to friends and family, using it to share thoughts, images, etc. It’s more like MySpace but more geared to adults than teens, correct?
Twitter on the other hand, encourages you to right your ideals in byte-size chunks and use your updates as jumping off points to other places or just let others know what you’re up to at any given moment. Correct?

Why I Love Facebook
Facebook appeals to social animals and can be very addicting to people like me who have an insatiable appetite to stay connected with friends. I have to admit I rarely use email or IM tools anymore. I use facebook for email, chat, image and video sharing. Sad? Or is this the norm for a lot of people?
I prefer the social portal model versus having to log into AIM, Yahoo Messenger, Gmail, Hotmail, Flickr, YouTube, MySpace, etc. Facebook gives me a single alternative to all these applications, with one login and interface to manage all my online social interaction needs. I believe that this largely explains the explosive growth Facebook and why it continues to grow.

The Future of Social Networking
In the end, both Twitter and Facebook are simply communication tools; both will continue to evolve and morph as users find new ways to extract value and either network may or may become a long term winner in the rapidly evolving social networking space. Ultimately, the fact remains to be seen whether either application has a profitable, scalable and sustainable business model or whether the exit strategy is simply to be acquired.

Rebecca Brokken
rebecca@webgemnet.com