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I use it to keep up with social media trends, discover new tools, promote mine and somebody else's work. Every Retweet is like a vote of confidence to a piece of content. If I like it, I pass it to my followers.
I don't follow anybody, only those users who I believe I can learn something from.
I learn so much from Twitter that missing the stream is like missing out on possible important conversations. That's why I prefer to keep my number of friends low.
Facebook is about personal relationships with people I've met, I know or I've had some sort of relationship. I don't accept any friend unless we had some sort of interaction. Facebook is just myself, like being at home.
LinkedIn is pure business. I'm probably not taking full advantage of it. It's a professional discovery tool but a litle cold. It's the place to be politically correct, quite corporate feeling.
- Twitter: Broadcasting good content to a lot of people (who have connected to you for both professional and personal reasons). There is the potential of discovering both great people, and also being discovered by others, whether it is in terms of them replying to you, or whether it is in terms of a RT.
- Facebook: Narrowcasting personal content to a small segment of people (whom you are likely to know or met)
- LinkedIn: Rarely changing public face which you maintain as clean as possible (in case some one looks at it for professional reasons)
The fundamental reasons for these vastly different behaviors are really because of the nature of the network, the speed of interactions, and searchability of what you write poses very different rewards, costs and risks of communicating.
Would you say that is a reasonable summary? Would love to know what you think!
I certainly use the three in different ways:-
Facebook - Almost entirely personal, friends and family. I find it great to keep in contact and be aware of what is going on in their lives. I am selective about who I accept as a friend on FB, refusing anyone I do not know. I have a couple of business contacts on there, but to be honest there is no interaction and its a waste really, it just causes clutter in the Live or Home feed.
Twitter: I am still having a personal debate about whether a Personal or Corporate account is better. So far I have both, and use them in different ways. The Corporate account is updates from my blog. I follow people in the industry I am in and receive a rich source of information from them. The personal account is linked via Friend Feed to Facebook,Digg,Backtype etc.. and I also post Likes, Comments and the occasional random update. The jury is still out on this one, but its new thats ok. I watch RSS feeds of searches for my industry to see whats being talked about by clients, prospects and competitors and find this very useful.
Linked In : I am quite a fan of linked in. Its totally professional and business orientated. I interact in discussions, groups, polls and do status updates. I get good information and if I want to contact someone I can find them for sure if they are on it. I make it a policy to ask for a connection to any business contact I get. I still need to get more comfortable with what Linked In can do, it is not quite as easy as the other two.
So tahts my two cents worth. For sure all three used differently for different reasons. I have to manage the time I spend on them for sure, it can get too much !
(slightly dense now, but looking to make them more readable)
Facebook: Most folks seem to see FB as a way to post personal content to a small segment of people (whom you are likely to know or met) - They tend to be more open with posting personal, less "generally interesting" comments, because they know folks reading it are likely to be friends. Furthermore, interactions on FB are not broadcasted like Twitter, so that again reduces barriers to posting personal stuff.
Twitter: Most folks use Twitter as a way to broadcast good content to a lot of people (who have connected to them for both professional and personal reasons). They use it to discover and learn from great people w/o need to "know them", while seeking to get discovered by others as well.
On twitter, they tend to be more careful about posting personal stuff, both because of 1) privacy concerns and because 2) the broadcast medium infers that they have a "responsibility" to keep it relevant for everyone about who is likely to read it.
LinkedIn: Most twitterers seem to think that it is too static, due to the barriers imposed on communicating on the platform+ a rarely changing public face which you maintain as clean as possible.
However, for many other professionals who do not require the full blown interactive nature of Twitter, Linkedin is proving to be useful with the emergence of polls, groups, QnA.
I like twitter more and more all the time. Forces me to be concise. (A big plus for me for saving time). New options being added all the time (need to get caught up on how to use them... like using twitter for conference and when to use hash # marks in twitter msgs).
Facebook has its moments but I can get bogged down in it time-wise (a huge minus)! So many screens, so many messages to navigate through to get to what I'm looking for (don't have time to read all of the random stuff on FB... like who scored what on which Facebook game)...
Also FB tends to have a fair # of juvenile messages and taking time to wade though those gets on my nerves. All that flipping screen to screen gets annoying too.
I needed some time to get used to twitter when I first started with it but I like it more and more as time goes on.
I've been starting to notice more and more ways to use it.
Jeanne
Facebook: This is my personal life. While people from my business side of life have "friended" me, the privacy controls enable me to keep them (hopefully) at professional arms distance. My children were the first on Facebook -- and hence I joined too as an initially concerned, overprotective mother (I clearly read too many stories of cyber friendships that went awry). Now, my children have moved on to other platforms but increasingly my friends (over 40) are joining. It has proved an effective way to gather friends for impromptu parties or outings as well as for sharing info via links.
LinkedIn: In the early days, I used it to keep in touch with people I enjoyed working with but whom I didn't truly consider as close personal friends. In today's economic environment -- as well as I'm sure the growing trend to participate in social networks -- initial in-person meetings inevitably result in a request to join someone's network on LinkedIn. I usually oblige out of politeness and because there really isn't much I do on there. My network generally does not contain my personal friends -- with some exceptions -- since we help each out with business contacts/referrals, the "old fashioned" way via phone and email. I find much of what my professional contacts do on LinkedIn borders on questionable professional behavior -- e.g., overstating their CV, posting gratuitous mutual admiration recommendations -- and for a long time I tended not to visit the site often. The launch of LinkedIn groups though has drawn me back in. Some groups are actually interesting and helpful and not full of folks shamelessly self-promoting. The link to wordpress blogs is also good.
Twitter: Other than a handful of friends, everyone I follow is either a professional acquaintance or someone I would like to be professionally acquainted with. I follow them because they are smart and I learn something from them almost every day. The ones I don't learn from, I stop following. Until the platform is more user friendly and enables a greater range of privacy controls, I doubt I will ever use it for anything other than professional growth.
I use twitter to stay up to date on certain people i like to follow also to keep up with some of my more tech savvy friends.
And linked in i use strictly for professional contacts.
Curious: "stay up to date on certain people i like to follow" - what profile
are the people you like to follow? High profile folks/celebrities, or just
smart people in your industry?
FaceBook - I use mostly for maintaining personal relationships with friends, colleagues, and family. I do not discuss technical or professional matters on FB.
LinkedIn - Strictly professional but I find the interface and services quite stilted and difficult to use effectively. Again, LinkedIn is just for business.
Twitter - I am a recent adopter of Twitter. It reminds me of IM in the very late 90s and 2000s with my technical colleagues. Obviously, more than that and different because I often interact with others I have never met. I am more causal on Twitter than LinkedIn, perhaps FaceBook. I tend to follow technical folks to get a sense of what is occurring. I tweet in a stream of consciousness but try to be informative and try avoid being self-indulgent .
In summary, all three services I use quite differently, for different reasons and with different expectations.
Each platform has completely different people.
I tend to use facebook for "real world" friends. Its not my favorite site, but my non-techy friends and family use it a lot so its a good way do share pictures with them.
To be frank, I am not a fan of Linked In - I may be missing the boat, but I prefer to do my networking the old fashioned way, its more authentic and genuine
behavior?
if anything, I am more guarded on facebook b/c I actually know the people I am interacting with
I try to streamline my social networking as efficiently as possible.
personal photos/stuff in Twitter?
M
LI is very much who you know & who they know. I love the Q&A of LI & use it to gather information quite often.
I think LI has helped my visibility in trying to find a new job since my blog is displayed as well as my Twitter URL. People can link to "me" from one page & then hire me based on that info I provide.
But all three are essential.
1) People are already increasingly asking questions on Twitter
2) Communication on Twitter is a lot easier than communication on LinkedIn
How about combining the Linkedin and Twitter account?
M
As not as many people are using Twitter I can update a lot more.
relatives" are using Twitter right? How will that change as they get onto
Twitter?
The fact that you can do a lot more (rather pointless) activities on Facebook is perhaps another reason why I don't see it fit to fill in the status updates on there. The Selective Twitter app is added in case I change my mind though.
J.
Interesting - so you think these pointless activities detract or add to the
facebook experience?
How do you post so quickly and often to everyone? Are you a very cleverly written AI bot? ;)
a few seconds. =)
Unfortunately, i just really like all the comments being posted, so i try to
reply. But it gets undoable after the 100 comment mark. =P
connections have you been able to build on Twitter so far?
Twitter, OTOH, I am glued to for both social and professional networking. I tweet all night and all weekend long.
I have Linkdin, but I'm honestly not sure why.
Twitter, both social and professional?
I From the respect that i know people are watching what i am doing from both a personal and professional level, does mean i take a little more not on what i may post, but both are social media and both allow me to connect with friends and business associates, so it is all intermingled anyway.
usage of Linkedin, especially since you say that it is more biz and info
oriented?
M
usage of Linkedin?
M
i find somewhat more amusing, light and captivating than fb
Twitter is where I feel I can express myself more freely; it's a great way to give and receive tidbits of info, which usually sends me on an indefinite chain of clicking leading to new and interesting corners of the interwebs :)
to a more it being a more "constrained" information source, especially when
compared to Twitter, which is much more diverse?
But I do let loose with comments and wall writing on Facebook as I know Twitterinos wont be seeing that.
I've never really seen the value of Linkedin as my career involves relationships with people I interact with socially (facebook, twitter, flickr).
That is a great comment: "As my career involves relationships with people
I interact with socially (facebook, twitter, flickr)." - does that mean
Linkedin is fundamentally limited because of the lack of personal context?
Also, it seems like what you are saying the following: messages is a one
way street from Twitter to FB, but not from FB to Twitter because they are
too private?
M
Linkedin is fundamentally limited because of the lack of personal context?"
I would agree with that. I'm a Realtor and social connection and relationship building is extremely important. I use Facebook as my main platform for building friendships that can turn into future business as well as maintaining friendships with out of area friends and family.
For me, Twitter feeds into that, as my tweets update my FB status. Twitter is also a way for me to make connections with other local people who I don't yet know. When I know them well enough, I can move them over to FB to deepen the relationship and continue to build trust and rapport.
Kara
@karasorensen
http://blog.thefoodcravingsolution.com
Twitter is great for connecting with others.
What is the problem with Linkedin in terms of networking? Issit because it
is hard to contact people, or because a static profile says very little
about an individual?
M
Facebook is just my friends, so I like to know I haven't missed too much on that. If I miss a week's Twitter updates I won't bother to look for them. It's just idle bar chat; who cares? Anything I need to know will be replicated elsewhere.
I think the difference is subtle, but it's significant enough that combining them well would be nigh-on impossible. That said, any change to something that everyone uses differently is bound t be unpopular.
twitter has nothing to do with linked in, other than creating and embellishing relationships you may make there
if one replaced the other, you'd likely get far less ppl using them
Facebook has become the MySpace of old, connections are typically family, friends and folks I have known for years but don't generally speak with anymore. Twitter is just an awesome power, it has enabled me to gain large exposure for my work, design, and development involvements.
Very separate from each other. And long may that train of though continue.
What unique value are you getting out of each of them?
Facebook is like fancy contact address book with pictures. Twitter, in all it's simplicity, is a state of mind.
How do you see your usage of these tools evolving?
None. At all. Period.
In your usage behaviour, is Twitter replacing Facebook, or does it replacing Linkedin?
My original intention was to join Twitter and leave Facebook's mundanity (or the Mun'day'lity that Facebook has become) To answer your question, while I still need to keep worldwide friends close at hand, Facebook helps, but it's just a matter of time, and those 'friends' will find Twitter's simplicity 'is in your way of thinking'.
- LinkedIn is a suit-and-tie-job-interview-credentials-corporate-meeting kind of place
- Twitter is a conference-semi-formal-social-business-networking-and-helping-others kind of place
- Facebook is a personal / family / friends / buddies let-it-all-hang-out kind of place (though I'll confess, I run two FB accounts, one for purely personal friends/family, and one for acquaintances and friendly work colleagues and a little networking/sharing)
I liked how he delineates each site. I tried to do the same thing. I'd love to know what you think.
http://www.nooozeguy.com/social-networks/
-Josh
Facebook is reserved for people I actually know (or at least have met a couple of times).
And I have to admit that LinkedIn hasn't really started paying off for me yet, maybe because I'm not actively seeking employment right now?
LinkedIn is purely for work connections.
Twitter is for the random followers I have and other enthusiastic twitter'ers
Twitter I'm on more often now, and do all my status updates there and a lot of my friends have cut back on status updates on FB and stuck to Twitter. I think it helps that on Twitter you don't miss updates because you can flip back through older stuff, while on Facebook's home page you tend to miss a lot of stuff.
As far as LinkedIn, I've never heard of it before today. =/
I use LinkedIn to direct people to my professional life. Weirdly, my professional and personal lives rarely interact. I have friendsand collegues, and both are seperate so I never have crossover.
Not sure what all that means, but there you go.
Facebook is the after-hours party, where I maintain a 4+ year-old profile because it is an easy way to keep in touch with friends and extended family, and also a quick way to wish someone birthday greetings with the click of a button. I don't use FB as much as it uses me; if my friends weren't on it, nor would I.
LinkedIn is the Chamber of Commerce, where I build and maintain business relationships, ask questions, answer questions, and become a better person.
Twitter is the fill-in-the-blank-description, where I network, collaborate, and chit-chat, in that order; with chit-chat taking 10% of my time. You can see what other people say at http://ariwriter.com/2008/12/14-ways-to-describ...
attention into their blog. There is a certain outreach ability that Twitter
has that blogs do not have.
Also, it is becoming clear that Twitter seems to be replacing Linkedin much
more than it is replacing Facebook - make sense?
If you're using Twitter or LinkedIn, I assume you're also on Facebook; but I don't care to see your pictures or anything like that. Facebook also requires mutual friendship, and if I'm looking to network, I don't need to be your friend.
Facebook: Most folks seem to see FB as a way to post personal content to a small segment of people (whom you are likely to know or met) - They tend to be more open with posting personal, less "generally interesting" comments, because they know folks reading it are likely to be friends.
Furthermore, interactions on FB are not broadcasted like Twitter, so that again reduces barriers to posting personal stuff.
Twitter: Most folks use Twitter as a way to broadcast good content to a lot of people (who have connected to them for both professional and personal reasons). They use it to discover and learn from great people w/o need to "know them", while seeking to get discovered by others as well.
On twitter, they tend to be more careful about posting personal stuff, both because of 1) privacy concerns and because 2) the broadcast medium infers that they have a "responsibility" to keep it relevant for everyone about who is likely to read it.
LinkedIn: Most twitterers seem to think that it is too static, due to the barriers imposed on communicating on the platform+ a rarely changing public face which you maintain as clean as possible. Also, people tend to think that Linkedin is fundamentally limited because of the lack of personal context and interactions
However, for many other professionals who do not require the full blown interactive nature of Twitter, Linkedin is proving to be more useful than Twitter with the emergence of polls, groups, QnA.
I'd edit my part that I don't use Twitter as a broadcasting tool but as a sharing tool. It's not about broadcasting information, but replying and retweeting. But that's me. I'd argue for communication in lieu of broadcast.
Facebook and LinkedIn, for the most part, could be likened to intranets as they're behind the firewall; moreso with Facebook. I say this from the perspective both allow friends/connections only if mutual. Twitter doesn't necessitate mutual.
LinkedIn is purely for professional contacts. The groups, forums, and articles are not that strong. It is great for asking professional questions. Anytime I have pinged my contacts or groups, I usually get 3 or 4 responses within a day or 2.
Twitter is the place people share ideas, links, updates and sometimes jokes. I find most of the content I need to read from the respectable people I follow here. That way I am not subscribing to 90 blogs. It is hard to find time in the day to scan vast amounts of content, digest it, and formulate opinions if that is not necessarily your day job (or you have a family). I also use it to direct followers to new content on my blog.
Yammer is relatively new, but it can have a great impact. Sapient (the company I got laid off from on Thursday) is a global organization with 6500 people spread across germany, London, Sweden, India and all over the US. Sharing ideas that are company specific while being somewhat secure is great. Within the short time people started using it, we were able to connect in ways email and the intranet could not allow.
Lastly my blog (http://blog.brown-paper.net) is the place I pull it all together. My ideas about my job, social media interactions, rants and opinions. From all other avenues I direct people here for the more in depth context.
With so many networks, it was getting hard to keep up. So I discovered ping.fm. It is a life saver! You can add it as an AIM buddy (which is always open in my case) and just instant message the service or services you want to post to. For instance I created a tag called "#tweets" and it will only update my twitter, and Yammer. Another called "#status" will post to FB and linkedIn. You can also hit the services directly (@ym, @tw, fb, etc).
Cheers!
Marc
http://blog.brown-paper.net
http://www.twitter.com/mvannorden
I am very curious here - it seems that you believe facebook is more for
friends, twitter is great for information collection, while Linkedin's
strongest point is their Q&A.
In that case, do you foresee twitter replacing certain use cases of
Linkedin?
Lastly, how much of your traffic for your blog comes from Twitter?
Twitter allows you to point to information sources (among other uses) but if you have an opinion on that content more than the 140 char. you will be posting it somewhere else. And then maybe broadcasting that opinion on twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook etc..
A good amount of traffic is driven thru twitter, which in tern drives FB (thru status) and LinkedIn. The end goal would be to get to people appreciate your content and subscribe, making the task of broadcasting not necessary.
Facebook: Have been on it since undergrad, and have a large network. It was once more important to me, but now I don't check in too often and don't take it seriously. Sometimes I'll have wall exchanges with friends, which are almost exclusively based on inside jokes. Status updates are rarely related to anything I'm actually doing. I'll add someone new when I meet them, if only to feel more "connected." Sometimes I'll send messages to folks I don't have other contact info for. It's great for rekindling old/lost connections. I don't share anything there (or anywhere) that I would be ashamed of.
LinkedIn: Purely professional, and not used often. Very rarely send messages or take part in other social activity, aside from adding new coworkers / associates / friends to my network and replying to any requests sent to me. Any actions I take there are explicitly toward the end of building my professional persona / furthering my career. To me, it feels cold. Interactions there typically aren't very rich.
Twitter: Used for a blend of personal/social and professional use. I'm highly aware of the public and repostable nature of my tweets. Content posted varies from where I am at the moment, to work-related links, to tweets about personal projects, to quotes and other links that I personally enjoy. I like it because it's malleable. I think people tend to understand that what they're seeing is a glimpse of me as an entire person. @s and DMs are effective for quick, asynchronous communication between acquaintances. I've met lots of new people in the real world through Twitter ("Oh, you like that, too? Let's meet." "Oh, you're there, too? Let's meet.")
hidden in the few short paragraphs you have submitted:
Great stuff, and thanks for sharing!
FB:
- Don't check in too often and don't take it seriously.
- Sometimes I'll have wall exchanges with friends, which are almost
exclusively based on inside jokes.
- Status updates are rarely related to anything I'm actually doing.
Linkedin
- Very rarely send messages or take part in other social activity
- Any actions I take there are explicitly toward the end of building my
professional persona / furthering my career.
- To me, it feels cold. Interactions there typically aren't very rich
Twitter
- Highly aware of the public and repostable nature of my tweets.
- I think people tend to understand that what they're seeing is a glimpse
of me as an entire person.
- I've met lots of new people in the real world through Twitter ("Oh, you
like that, too? Let's meet." "Oh, you're there, too? Let's meet.")
comment is up already btw)
they are your funders right?
M
Twitter is to talk to people, socialize, keep up with toing sin the world.
Linkdin not really using, too many coporate types on there monitoring your every move.
My website and blog, that is where it is all at!
"random" than Twitter? Typically it would be the other way round, wun it? =)
And yup, your personal website and blog is always going to be the highest
priority - is that right?
few other folks, who say that they are less open on Twitter because it is
more public than Facebook. Would you say that is a factor?
Twitter is a great place to find relevant chatter. I really enjoy digging through twitscoop to see what's up and to find relevant tweets to a particular suject that I'm interested in.
I'm also not the most extroverted person, never really kept a journal and am surprised at the level of enjoyment I find from Twitter.
anything to do with that?
Keep things higher minded with Twitter
I use the term "average user" above intentionally. I believe that if you are in the realm of celebrity status with an extremely large community the difference between "follow" and "friend" is significantly less meaningful since the purpose is to communicate on a broad scale reaching the largest volume of people possible.
So if you are an "average user" there is certainly a difference between Facebook and Twitter and the difference is defined by the functionality that allows you to construct your community.
Sal.
Can I express your perspective this way?
FB - more private / friends-oriented => behavior is simultaneously more
personal and open.
Twitter - public / people you know less about => behavior is more cautious,
and more professional.
Twitterers seem to express often that Linkedin is often much too
one-dimensional for their liking => do you agree?
That said… I think if you have a range from professional to casual, LinkedIn and Facebook sit at the extremes, with twitter still finding itself in the grey area in between.
FB - more private / friends-oriented => behavior is simultaneously more
personal and open.
Twitter - public / people you know less about => behavior is more cautious,
and more professional.
Twitterers seem to express often that Linkedin is often much too
one-dimensional for their liking => do you agree?
LinkedIn is used purely for business and only have business contacts and colleagues.
Twitter is my everything else network--interesting people, news, interesting articles and Web entries, etc.
I use Twitter to share links and musings, and stay in closer touch with my early-adopter work friends. Not a lot of overlap with my personal life. It's dramatically reduced my blogging output, 'cause it serves a similar funtion.
The near-real-time feedback function of Twitter is fascinating, and somewhat addictive. Which of my tweets will people respond to? It's hard to predict -- and thus inherently compelling.
psychology of Twittering.
What kind of tool do you think would be very conducive to helping you
understand response to your Tweets?
I have 2 here: Bit.ly, which tracks how many clicks you have (this post
received about 4000 in the last hour), and feedjit.com, which shows you a
live stream of activity.
It is stunningly addictive!
M
I use Twitter for job related and personal updates - which are piped to my FaceBook status. I'm not going to post updates in two different places. I rarely post updates solely on FB.
And I use FaceBook to keep up with friends and family, and to reconnect with former classmates and colleagues.
have the same status across these tools? =)
Do you mind sharing what connections you have built on Twitter? What do
you mean "general online networking?"
M
I have been on Facebook for personal use only but recently started getting requests from business associates so I decided to keep 2 accounts, one for private and one for professional associations. I intend to use Facebook as a professional networking tool as I like participating in the groups.
I have been a Twitter spectator for a long time and just decided to have a more active account for business. As a consultant, I can see a lot of application for Twitter for my small business clients.
Long-term, I am open to seeing how the tools and technology evolves. I may use the tools differently especially if any of them change their business model and begin charging differently for businesses.
-TWITTER: for interacting with people who have interests similar to mine. I only know one Twitter friend from life offline; he was a co-worker. The rest I found via Twitter searches based on my interests. Twitter is a great way for me to get information, share ideas, get feedback or advice - or to give advice and information of my own. I enjoy the social and political commentary my Twitter pals make, and the jokes we tell and support we give one another.
LINKEDIN- this is a purely professional account for me. I do not use it for casual chats or to meet friends. It's only purpose for me is job networking and career information.
Twitter is my totally open network. I follow all kinds of people and anyone can follow me. I think it is great place for people to discover each other and interact. The key here is to participate and not just stand on the sidelines. Here there are people I may not even know but that I can get to know. New and fresh perspectives abound in an environment filled with those both familiar to me and not.
Facebook is a personal network of friends and business acquaintances. It is a place where I interact with people I know. The low or almost no friction aspect of the interactions allow me to keep up with people I know. Through the things people post and their status updates I can stay current and interact in an organic and natural way with those people. Life is busy and Facebook allows you to be connected in more then a casual way with people you know near or far and from your present or past. For me Facebook is limited to people I know and have intereacted with on some professional or personal level.
Linkedin is a trusted and professional network. This is a place to connect with and keep track of those in your network in a more formal way. Here I am aware of people moving from company to company and job to job. Linkedin is a professional resource where I can look people up and see what parts of my network they are connected to or where I can find resources that are either part of my existing network or that are connected to that network. One of the key differences between this and Facebook, beyond the more professional nature or the system, is the trusted nature of this network. The people I am connected with here I have reason to have trust in that they understand the true value of networking. Unlike the person I knew in highshcool who I may happily follow and stay connected with on Facebook on Linkedin these are people I know and expect would aid me if I asked and who I would be willing to pass on to my network.
I think these three tools bring a nice balance to my online networking efforts with each filling a specific need.
Twitter - People with whom I want to share ideas. This might be all listening on my end, all listening on their end, or two-way conversation.
Facebook - Friends & Family that I want to keep up with. What's going on in their life, their kids lives, etc.
Twitter, LinkedIn, Plaxo, etc - all interconnected business tools. Twitter is like being at a big networking event, where I can listen in on conversations and participate, but don't have to when I'm pressed for time. And that's how I keep up with people as they move from company to company, etc.
"keep up with people as they move from company to company, etc."
Wouldn't that be somewhat overlapping with Linkedin, especially since
Linkedin typically send updates of what your network is up to?
Whereas with Twitter, I'm using it to get the word out on stories, both mine and other peoples', and also to send updates during breaking news. Many of my followers seem to be in PR. I think they all went to the same "following journos through Twitter" conference.
would like to use social media as a way to both get good leads to stories,
get feedback for your stories, and to break news,
Curious: Viewership from your tweets would not be comparable to organic
viewerships from NYTIMEs, and how differently do you see these 2 traffic
sources?
Personally, I am still exploring and I am most interested in making business based contacts - I've probably made the fewest of these on fb with LinkedIn being the most successful in that respect so far. I think this may change as I have recently found ways to search twitter for people in my region and it's then so easy to make contact compared to LinkedIn.
At first I was daunted by the seemingly overwhelming volume of tweets to wade through on twitter but if I can figure out how to handle that, the flexibility of twitter and ease with which you can reach people makes it very appealing.
Definitely the most relaxed on fb - tho as an ex teacher, with a lot of my former students as fb friends, I'm still careful what I say there!
http://blog.mrtweet.net/twitter-to-go-how-one-l...
M
Twitter is definitely a mini-blog and I use it as such. I never know who might be reading my Tweets. I also use it to promote my blog posts to anyone that might be listening. I read other tweeters for enjoyment, information and just because they sound cool.
They are totally different mediums.
friends-oriented => you are less cautious about what you write. On Twitter,
you are more public, and it is also full of people you know less about.
Therefore, your behavior is more cautious, and more professional.
<http://blog.mrtweet.net/8-useful-tips-to-become...>
blog.mrtweet.net/8-useful-tips-to-become-successful-with-twitter
Also, see how companies are using Twitter:
blog.mrtweet.net/how-freshbooks-built-an-army-of-evangelists-starting-from-one-special-tweet
M
business/ freelance design opportunities that you have found on Twitter? And
what are the techniques you used to find them?
Looking forward to hearing from you!
My Facebook has become a mishmash of friends, family, and writing associates. It gives me an opportunity to get to know some better or stay in touch but twitter is much more valuable for networking.
It seems to me my relationship to them is highly fluid and changes all the time. I don't fully understand my relationship with any of them, i kind of blow hot and cold about them all at different times.
Currently i'm using fb and linkedin less, but i think linkedin may pick up as the recession bites and people try and use it as a networking device, which i don't think they have till this point. Linkedin feels static currently, look at all my 'professional' contacts, i mustn't be a crack pot if so many people have linkedin.
I think the corporate community naturally leans more toward linkedin than the other services, Tweet still feels a little new media to me. There are a number of celebrities using it to drive their brand rather than any genuine need to reach out to people.
Can tell you this though, over the last couple of years people have tried to ping me new social networks. I ignore those, i just can't be bothered to go through the painful experience of building a new network.
Finally, does anyone else think that these services take you away from what you should actually be doing 'seeing and meeting real people' or 'working' - don't respond is you are in the new media space - as THIS IS WHAT YOU DO AND IS THEREFORE BOTH! ;-)
Facebook - my use is mainly, but not exclusively, social, however, I am connected to many people who are professional, rather than personal, contacts. When I log into Facebook during the workday, it's like taking a coffee break with a friend or co-worker. I never put anything on Facebook that I wouldn't want my clients to see.
Twitter - I'm finally getting the hang of it, and I have to say I have got more value from it in the few months I've been using it than either of the above sites. I've been on LinkedIn for maybe 5 years, and Facebook for 2 years. So I think I'll be using it much more!
By the way, I blogged about a similar topic a few months ago: http://tinyurl.com/awtepu
Facebook: 'rekindling and repurposing the past'. Primarily used with close friends, family and colleagues I interface or have interfaced with in the physical world.
Twitter: 'present day by day social stimulus for personal and professional betterment.'
Here, I am actively looking for key inputs to drive my lifestyle design while reciprocating the same with friends and followers.
LinkedIn: 'all about future interactions with people and parts unknown'. This is the shiny and professional looking profile that stays consistent and concrete--hopefully a buoy and beacon for perpetual professional good standing and hope for financial prosperity.
So past, present and future aspects of my life are well served by these three bastions of digital social connectedness.
Thanks a lot for this - certainly did not think of it in terms of this
dimension. =)
Twitter I only discovered about a week ago and am already finding its worth - take a while though to see where this ll eventually leads :)
I use LinkedIn for professional connections only. I use it more as a resume. I only update it when there is a major career incident in my life and hardly ever make "connections' through it.
Twitter on the other hand is a tool I am constantly learning how to hone. It started out as a "what i'm doing right at this moment" toy of sorts and has morphed into a powerful way for me to stay connected to my friends/business/interests/news .. you name it really. You find people who are interested in the same stuff or industry and within a couple of days you can become an expert in it. It's amazingly powerful but at the same time can become overwhelming at times. I love it.
I think by the way this article is panning out though you can agree that these are the BIG 3 of the social networking sites that have specific audiences.
http://thetinyjewelbox.blogspot.com/2009/01/twi...
However I tend to use Twitter the most these days, even more than my actual blog on InsaneJournal. People who I know that are thinking of following me on twitter get a warning of how it is diarrhea of my mind at times. Twitter is a way to get a brief thought out but also connect with people. Often times I save important words from myself or friends. Thought of using it for some future project but dont know what yet.
Kat
I am new to twitter and linkedIn - I intend to use twitter for to connect with like minded ppl in the hope of futhering my knowledge in the wider sense. As for linkedIn i intend to use it strictly for professional contacts as I grow my online business.
Twitter: Facebook + randoms I'm interested in gaining insight from. Typically, a more diverse interaction on a wider range of topics.
I use both daily. Typically, my facebook interactions are more personal than twitter. Occasionally, I have a status and a tweet that are related, but mostly facebook is a more intimate look into my life as opposed to twitter.
Twitter is more of a daily companion , whilst Facebook and Linkedin are much more passive structures, a story that is being written everyday.. to be read another day!
i have two twitter account, one for my work and one for my personal ranting. but ironically again my rant twitter account has more followers. in fact, ive made a lot of new friends from all over the world via twitter conversations. on the other hand, on facebook even though i have "strangers" adding me, no real conversation really kicks up. That's because its hard to keep track of all the 800 people i have on my facebook. in terms of twitter-facebook merge, i only display my work twitter account on facebook and not my personal one. I do not dare to enable status synch either because i think facebook has a different purpose and the way to use facebook is a tad different too. I reach a more "local" crowd on facebook.
i mainly use facebook for work. with groups and pages, it can be very effective. work in this case is mostly environmental outreach and advocating.
linkedin is totally for business/work only. in fact, i don't expect much from it but since i got contacted through linkedin recently, i've a changing perspective of its use. still exploring.
Twitter: Used exclusively to build and interact with overlapping peer groups relating to my professional interests, albeit in a casual and informal setting.
LinkedIn: Purely for professional contacts and networking.
lately what inspired me is that the interactions that i have made on whatever platform i use, have really made me a better person.
Friends and family and to introduce some new people to me and what I do. I am more relaxed on Facebook
Twitter
To meet new people that have the same interests and to find new people to interview
LinkedIn
I have an account but am unsure how to utilise it at present properly as I am afraid I am not very business orientated.
Facebook is a network that's only populated by people I know, so I'm less conservative when it comes to what I post there. I rarely think twice about plugging up the stream with too much information, because frankly the type of information on facebook isn't usually that important anyway. Its main value is in its picture-tagging service, which is also the feature that causes the most headaches for people...
LinkedIn is basically just a place for me to plant my "professional" flag, and keep in touch with ex-coworkers. It's nice to have, because it means those same co-workers aren't going to need to find me on Facebook (where I don't want to add them, lest they see all the pictures of me being wasted)
Twitter is something I have more respect for (although I don't necessarily see that from everyone). Realizing that everything I post is made public, and that it'll be instantly streamed to my followers, I exercise much more restraint in the amount and type of tweets I make. That's not to say I only act in a 'professional' way (I'm trying to start a "rhyming haiku" meme, for example), but I generally make an active effort not to flood the stream with crap. Sadly, not everyone seems to care about maintaining the "integrity of the stream", which is where Twitter fails, imo
I use Twitter everyday. I am still fairly new to Twitter but it has been a great way of networking. I have connected with some very interesting people and it is a great resource when looking for recommendations on certain topics.
LinkedIn is strictly for professional use. I do not use it often and am only connected wit co-workers, lose friends and others in my industries.
-- Linkedin : strictly professional
-- Twitter : professional-intrest related, but "anonymous".
I agree with Adam that Facebook is "a very general social networking site mainly to connect with old friends and to stay up with new friends. Facebook also has what I would call a longer time base than Twitter. I might not respond to a Facebook post for a day or two. That wouldn't work very well on Twitter because if I was away from it for a day, or even a few hours, many of the messages I had received would be so far down on the message list that they wouldn't even be seen. For similar reasons I Find that Facebook is a good vehicle for announcing events that are scheduled for some time in the future. You can actually create a Facebook page for a specific meeting or concert and people can post comments, and even photos, there.
Like many others in my network, my tweets are echoed as facebook updates. Probably not been on FB long enough to have determined the 'best' way of using it, but it seems to be almost exclusively social rather than professional, and seems to be an extension of a lot of forum-based online communities I belong to. Quite possibly it takes a lot of the off-topic chatter away from those forums, which may be a good or a bad thing depending on how you look at it.
Some of the phone networking sites like Fotochatter and Mocospace at least have settled on being "dating" services even though they try to resemble sites like Facebook or MySpace. On the other hand, they are great for quickly posting pictures that are taken on the fly.
I think if someone was to research what users like and dislike about using each site, it may be possible to start creating and developing a site with a better "application" focus other than simply a mish-mosh of various types of messaging or picture posting services.
Picture posting sites like Snapmylife.com and Funsnaps.com are great for users to post and display their photos. While they provide the ability to broadcast messages to a wide group of people simultaneously, the application is primarily focuses on "photography" and not toward satisfying every possible "need" or requirement that any individual user has.
Abe Lincoln would have made a great Human Factors engineer with his advice on managing people; "You can't satisfy all of the people all of the time, but you can satisfy some of the people some of the time". The old rule of first specifying a set of users groups ,their specific requirements, and a context is the definitive first step in developing a good application. The next step is to specify a particular technology to satisfy these requirements.
If these steps are followed ,one could quickly see how services such as Facebook and Twitter could be modified to become real killer applications.
I've only recently begun using Twitter, and I find I'm a little apprehensive with it. So far it's a one-way form of communication for me (if throwing out chunks of information into the ether toward whomever may care to read it, and scanning/reading other people's "chunks" can count as communication.) It feels like a big badminton game using 140-character blurbs in place of shuttlecocks - we're all just whacking bits of info into the air in the hopes of something being returned. ;-)
I think I'm afraid to use the direct response feature; it feels intrusive. Or does a person sending out tweets expect/desire direct responses?
LinkedIn- Dont use it to its full potential. Perhaps because I am Full time working mom. Though like to use the book application.
Twitter - The ultimate social nettwrking tool. It is like sitting with some friends and having discussion. I find it also as a trong tool for professional development.
I think they're very separate. Although my work passions and my personal passions blur... most of them are the exact same in fact... I use FB as a place to post personal stuff... sometimes it may be related to work, but most often not.
Twitter is the exact opposite. Most of my posts will be work-related or geared to "colleagues" and yet sometimes I'll post something personal.
What I find guides me is that the most exciting things (whether personal or professional) make both FB and Twitter, but in duplicate posts, not the same.
Too often I need the differences that FB and Twitter each faciliate for me.
Thanks - these are all great comments and I appreciated your post very much.
Facebook:
I thoroughly enjoy meeting new people here, finding friends from earlier days and forging new business relationships. I'm super casual here: I'll throw up pictures of when I was 7 years old. I'll chat very openly with strangers, I'll post a wide variety of interesting items for a very broad range of "friends."
But I also am using Facebook to promote my business using a Facebook Page. Just put one up a few days ago and it has already generated viable reaches.
LinkedIn
As many of us know, this is the conservative cousin of Facebook. So I stay with the conservative theme and meet new people for business purposes.
Twitter
Similar to Facebook, I've got two approaches here. I've got a personal Twitter account and I'm very informal and conversational here and I have a business account (@hiringhelp) where I deliver business advice and help people with hiring matters.
All three are important to me and I'm committed to growing each in terms of capacity to reach others and provide two-way help.
i love twitter and use it all the time, but on a (more) professional level. i wouldn't want my tweets and my facebook to be linked in any way; i would find it invasive, because i basically use facebook for personal reasons, and twitter for professional reasons.
i don't use linkedin at all, at least, not yet :O)
put it this way:
If LinkedIn is your Resume
Facebook is the Interview
to which I would add
Twitter is the Conversation
LinkedIn is for professional contact only. I have my business network and references to my resume and my blog, but and I NEVER update my status in there.
Twitter I use as continuous stream of conversation, sometimes is work, sometimes is personal and, although my approach is still more professional on Twitter, it is quite fluid. There I talk about my work, my blog and eventually tweet what I doing at the moment (my status).
On Facebook I have only my friends and I feel free to make fun of other's comments , photos and etc, but I don't directly update my status there either. In fact, i have my twitter account feeding my Facebook status automatically.
The problem here is that not all my tweets are Facebook-worthy. Some are Retweets or twitter conversations that don't replicate well with my Facebook friends, but I don't know any way of only partially syncing my tweets with Facebbok updates and i don't have the time or inclination to go updating my status in several different places each time i feel like sharing what I am doing.
For me it would be ideal if I could clear delimit the right subset of my tweets to follow through to Facebook....
Twitter however, I use to meet new people, and any friends that tweet are an added bonus there. I network more with the community and professionally, and find local people who might also have the same interests as me. If I get to know them, I may add them to my Facebook.
In most corporate environments, you out-of-work personality is something you show only to select co-workers in personal environments. So for most of us, having a broadcast 24/7 of your quips and random thoughts is more likely to be a LIABILITY when looking for a job or a professional networking opportunity.
In principle, this isn't any different on the web than it is in life, where it's best to keep your drinking and bong-hitting buddies separate from your "dinner at ToastMasters" companions.
The practical difference is that anyone NOT in that very limited circle of jobs outside the corporate mainstream had best be twitting and blogging and facebooking under pseudonyms and be "linked in" as a professional. After all, your "friends" know that you got to put up a professional front, and they don't mind.
This is of course in contrast to Facebook where it is likely to be seen by a small segment of people (whom you are likely to know or met) - You tend to be more open with posting personal, less "generally interesting" comments, because you know who is likely to be reading it.
Would these be accurate statements?
LinkedIn has given me some contacts & references, but no business.
Twitter has sold my t-shirts, tripled my Squidoo lens traffic, given me access to high-fliers I'd not otherwise have reached & generated welcome work for my main business of copywriting.
I think Twitter will go mainstream. I think it will continue to be useful unless everyone ends up following everyone else - at which time it could eat itself. Until then, I think it will be my most valuable networking tool for all my purposes. Many thanks! P. :)
exploring the possibility of making it a case study to be featured on this
blog.
My email is mingyeow@gmail.com - if you are interested, please email me with
more details (address, actual stats of t-shirts, traffic), and how you have
done so.
Please see
http://blog.mrtweet.net/twitter-to-go-how-one-l...
an example!
Again, ONLY if you are interested in being a case study! =)
i also follow 'LearnKanji' who posts a new japanese word everyday.
http://twitter.com/learnkanji
My Facebook account is pretty dormant, mostly for keeping in touch with my children when they are out of the country or I am.
I don't put anything on the Internet anywhere that it would bother me if it was quoted in the New York Times or USA Today. (Of course, I have been quoted in both of those places saying some things other people might consider outrageous - but I don't.)
I've received several invitations to Linked In but don't have any real interest or need for it.
I keep Facebook Only for friends and Family. I use more full spellings (no 140 char limit) and use proper english. I don't share links (alot). I use it mainly for the photos and communication.
On the whole I don't think tthey will ever be the same!
I use LinkedIn to keep track of my clients; most of them are there, making it mandatory for me.
I'm new to twitter, so still figuring that one out. Right now, I see too much crap, for lack of a betteer word. I follow lots of people that I don't know because I think they have interesting things to say, but too often, even those interesting people post things like "I just went to the grocery store." If I don't figure out how to more efficiently sort through to get to the good stuff, I may give it up - it's a huge time suck for little benefit right now. And maybe there are already ways to make that easier, but I haven't figured them out yet. If you have any tips, please send them my way @scubasusan.
- Twitter: There is the potential of discovering both great people, and also being discovered by others, especially in terms of branching out into other communities. But right now there is too much noise/crap, and you find it to be a time suck.
- Facebook: Narrowcasting personal content to a small segment of people (whom you are likely to know or met). You tend to be more open with posting personal, less "generally interesting" comments, because you know who is likely to be reading it.
- LinkedIn: Rarely changing public face which you maintain as clean as possible (in case some one looks at it for professional reasons)
The fundamental reasons for these vastly different behaviors are really because of the nature of the network, the speed of interactions, and searchability of what you write poses very different rewards, costs and risks of communicating.
Would you say that is a reasonable summary? Would love to know what you think!
Twitter is small exact faster
Linkedin is a hoot if you do not take yourself seriously. I've got 3 million followers there Hilarious! It's like Annie Lennox said,,,,
Twitter: I have not met 99% of the followers on twitter, so try to be more professional, update status only relevant to my industry and my blog.
Linkedin: as a online Resume, don't use it too often except when people link to me I'll go check out their profile and who they are linked to.
initially I did submit the same updates to all, but then it did not make sense, especially because I engage more in twitter - which looks odd as a FB update.
- Twitter: Broadcasting good content to a lot of people (who have connected to you for both professional and personal reasons). There is the potential of discovering both great people, and also being discovered by others, especially in terms of branching out into other communities.
- Facebook: Narrowcasting personal content to a small segment of people (whom you are likely to know or met)
- LinkedIn: Rarely changing public face which you maintain as clean as possible (in case some one looks at it for professional reasons)
The fundamental reasons for these vastly different behaviors are really because of the nature of the network, the speed of interactions, and searchability of what you write poses very different rewards, costs and risks of communicating.
Would you say that is a reasonable summary? Would love to know what you think!
Twitter - smart people I want to know more about and hope they want to know more about me
Linked In - people that I need to know professionally
Right now I'm fascinated with Twitter, happy to keep up with old friends and colleagues on Facebook and rarely look at linked in unless prodded to do so.
Facebook - Family & Friends
Twitter - News made by interesting people
Linkedin – Occasional business contacts
I also use XING (German/English/Chinese) networking site ... much like Linkedin but more information and better network building (I think).
LinkedIn: Purely professional contacts. People I work with or have some kind of business affiliation with. "Friends" or personal acquaintances are not there unless they are unquestionably in my industry or close to it.
Twitter: Is of questionable value to me personally. I still don't personally have much of a personal use case for it. I'll tweet now and again partly for fun, but more follow others I'm interested in. And for the most part, that just provides me with links to their updated blog posts.
Scott
There's also a similar conversation on Cam Beck's Marketing Profs post, "How to Avoid the Perils of Blended Networks" (http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2009/02/how_to_avoid_...)
As for me:
Twitter: Protected account for private tweeting, public account for professional tweets. (Is it just me, or is it hard to say "professional" and "tweets" in the same phrase with a straight face? :) ) Daily, if not hourly, interaction.
LinkedIn: All business, all the time. But there's really no other way to use it. I never go there unless I get an email notification of a new connection or other updates.
Facebook: Primarily friends & family. "I met you at the networking breakfast" type contacts assigned to a friends list with higher privacy control settings. (Don't know how to do this? We just wrote a blog post on it: http://blog.cdginteractive.com/my_weblog/2009/0...) Daily to weekly use.
- Twitter: Broadcasting good content to a lot of people (who have connected to you for both professional and personal reasons)
- Facebook: Narrowcasting personal content to a small segment of people (whom you are likely to know or met)
- LinkedIn: Rarely changing public face which you maintain as clean as possible (in case some one looks at it for professional reasons)
The fundamental reasons for these vastly different behaviors are really because of the nature of the network, the speed of interactions, and searchability of what you write poses very different rewards, costs and risks of communicating.
Would you say that is a reasonable summary? Would love to know what you think!
LinkedIn is the premier social networking site for professionals and I use it for my professional contacts, job searching, networking, and building up a client base for my coaching practice. It's where people can find my resume and professional profile.
Twitter is an excellent way to have an online presence. I use it to manifest my personal brand as a life coach and share insights with others, and engage in a larger online community. It's not about telling people what I'm doing, it's about sharing what interests me and what may interest like-minded individuals from all walks of life.
Facebook is fun. It's my way to share mundane details and small idiosyncrasies with my family and friends - those who will listen to what I'm doing simply because they care about me.
- Twitter: Broadcasting good content to a lot of people (who have connected to you for both professional and personal reasons)
- Facebook: Narrowcasting personal content to a small segment of people (whom you are likely to know or met)
- LinkedIn: Rarely changing public face which you maintain as clean as possible (in case some one looks at it for professional reasons)
The fundamental reasons for these vastly different behaviors are really because of the nature of the network, the speed of interactions, and searchability of what you write poses very different rewards, costs and risks of communicating.
Would you say that is a reasonable summary? Would love to know what you think!
My evolution went like this:
Step 1 - LinkedIn - for creating a professional Internet presence. I still do quite a bit as I am knee deep in Business to Business related stuff as well as a salesman.
Step 2 - Facebook - I still have to get the knack of it, as it is too much about friendly poking and less about making a better me - or you. I also used to draw the parallel with the Hungarian version of FB - iWiw. The first time I was invited, I could not hook off for like 2-3 days or maybe a week to find old friends and such. But now I only use it to seek out Professional contacts background. Hey, we probably miss a Hungarian LinkedIn then...
Step 3 - Twitter, I got hooked so easily that I don't know how I haven't found it earlier. The best way I would describe my usage is something between professional and personal. As many of you have already put it right. Only I would add that Twitter is really going down to my spine and swirl my inner space.
All in all I believe this trio represent different stages on a continuum slide. At least for me.
Professional Life (LinkedIn) > Life and everything (Twitter) > Family and friendly life (Facebook)
This also giving me the reason why Twitter rules. It is more synergistic, even though FB and LinkedIn is quite full with applications.
Hail the day,
- Twitter: Broadcasting good content to a lot of people (who have connected to you for both professional and personal reasons)
- Facebook: Narrowcasting personal content to a small segment of people (whom you are likely to know or met)
- LinkedIn: Rarely changing public face which you maintain as clean as possible (in case some one looks at it for professional reasons)
The fundamental reasons for these vastly different behaviors are really because of the nature of the network, the speed of interactions, and searchability of what you write poses very different rewards, costs and risks of communicating.
Would you say that is a reasonable summary? Would love to know what you think!
Facebook: I use it to stay socially connected with friends and people I know/have met in real life.
Twitter: I use it to network in a 'not so professional' setting and to stay up-to-date with current news.
LinkedIn: I use it to build business connections and for professional purposes.
Facebook --> friends, family, colleagues that I know relatively well
Twitter --> acquaintances, strangers
...and different uses.
Facebook --> sharing personal anecdotes, family pics, news
Twitter --> industry discussions
Each of these public profiles serves a different purpose, therefore how speak differently on each of these networks.
Social networking is a mirror of our real lives, the language I engage with my dry cleaner is very different to my neighbor, friend or family.
Aggregating a variety of platforms is a great idea, however human interaction can't be aggregated in the name of efficiency.
So I have now decided that Facebook is an eclectic blend - and likely best represents the most of my life - connections with old friends, family, new friends, colleagues, and people I have never met but who's ideas I admire and thus want to share with my contacts.
I am working with Linked In to create a very specific professional network in and around my community - and again bringing some cool groups to the mix . I hope to be able to introduce my contacts and clients to my valued business associates via Linked In.
Twitter.. is great just for its untamed nature.. I like the ability to see the random posts and embrace the sharing culture. I hope to be able to add some value to others by my posts.. but right now.. I seem to be more of a consumer than a contributor.
Facebook : as a 40 year old I find having to ask if someone will be my friend as somewhat intimidating and like being back at school. I also prefer a certain amount of anonymity online, as I am secure enough not to feel the need to post micro details of myself to vague acquaintances and old enough to realise that this is probably not that interesting anyway. Facebook is to the internet what round robin letters are to the old economy.
Linked-in : the ability to maintain a professional facade makes it much more comfortable to use, if a little boring. Good to keep in touch with under the pretence of it being for business.
Twitter : somehow posting a micro-blog, however trivial, does not seem like baring your inner feelings to the world, therefore again it is comfortable to use. Also it is not so embarrassing (tragic?) for a 40 year old to say that he has a Twitter profile than a Facebook page, and it is possible to be an online "voyeur" (not in the gross sense) like on Facebook whilst hiding behind the pretence of it being so that you can get useful and relevant information.
Facebook - I have put a group up there ProductFul.com, if anybody would like to join, feel free. Conducted some preliminary research for consumers who might use my service and was a really quick way to get feedback. Also am registered for personal use, which is a handay way of keeping in touch with people..
Linkedin - Mainly use this for making contacts and keeping in contact with people who I deal with in the business world, great resource for profiling yourself and your business to potential business partners or clients.
Twitter - Use this for the personal and corporate side of the business, I have found it a good resource where people can find you, and you can find people with interesting articles and ideas of how to build your brand online.
I began by using Linkedin to get my professional information out there for pure job prospects. I even include a Linkedin link on my resume. This has produced a couple of solid interviews.
I use Facebook as a connector to friends, networking and to just blow off steam about the job search process.
Twitter has become a more vital resource of late as I strike a balance between finding information and sharing thoughts on various topics.
In general, I view Linkedin as purely professional, Facebook as social/networking and Twitter as a next wave amalgamation of the best of both worlds. @jespy
LinkedIn-I love this site! I use it for professional networking purposes only, and have found nothing but valuable information from every contact I have. I am starting to participate in discussions and forums, and am expanding my network and promoting my business in ways I never thought possible.
Facebook-I have to keep one of my social networking sites personal, so I'm using Facebook for connecting/reconnecting with friends and staying in touch. I always keep my profile picture professional in the event that future clients/candidates search for me. However, I choose only to connect with real friends and keep everything else private. I understand the importance of networking for my job, but I also believe that there is a line between my personal and professional lives.
Twitter-I'm kind of using this as an "in-between" site so far. I have a mix of personal and professional followers, and want to keep it that way. Twitter to me is all about information and getting my name out there. By gaining followers and participating on Twitter, I feel as though my personal AND professional networks will grow.
Hope that this helps!
I read others' tweets to gain insights and knowledge more than twittering myself. Twitter has become one of my sources of knowledge, on top of ted.com, leading@google videos and harvard business review.
I use Linkedin for job search purposes and connecting with other professionals. the linkage between me and other users are occasional.
Facebook is my way of expressing what's on my mind. Instead of updating status, I actually add quotes, sometimes quotes I get from others' tweets. :-) I also use social bookmarking so I post TED videos, NYT articles and other things on my FB account.
Net net, twitter is my knowledge platform, FB social and self-expression and Linkedin job opportunity site. I should add I mostly blog via Live Spaces to reflect.
LinkedIn = my professional profile, used for business contacts and discussions
Twitter = ? I'm figuring it out. Enjoying the folks I follow - amazed that others choose to follow me. Am not in it to promote a business or sell a product so am enjoying the dialogue streams generally and appreciating insights
As a student, Facebook is the hub of my social life. It allows me to manage and keep up with friends from a variety of sources and view and participate in a lot of Facebook shared events and initiatives. I have some professional contacts, from industry people to professors, in my Facebook network - however, this is because I have friendships with them beyond my professional relationships. I check Facebook at least once daily, often more, along with subscribing and responding to mobile updates.
I use LinkedIn exclusively as a professional networking tool, using it to add to my personal brand equity by leveraging the brands of my connections. I have email notifications from LinkedIn set to a minimum, meaning I only hear from my network when I log in, normally about once a week.
While I've only joined Twitter within the month, I'm finding it is an incredible resource for sharing information and building relationships with a variety of people in many different networks. The most likable feature of Twitter is that the user can control who they connect with, how they connect with them, and control the depth of those relationships. In comparison to LinkedIn and Facebook, which essentially have a standardized set of communication mechanisms for users to leverage, Twitter enables individualized communications within its open networking concept.
Adam Ralph
@aralph
I rarely post additional status messages to LinkedIn, though I do other things that keep my profile in the eyes of those who follow me, like answering questions when I can.
Facebook, in addition to the posts that go to Twitter & LinkedIn also gets stuff meant to go to my friends and those who are more familiar with 1-2 status updates per day, rather than the 10x that number that go to Twitter.
Thanks to Mr. Tweet for giving me a BIG boost when I started with Twitter!
Kate
learning medium"
You interested in a guest post? a more polished version of your blog posting
will work well
M
I'm a new user on twitter, so it remains to be seen how I will really eventually use it, but as I start I'm using it for a few things. 1) communicate with people I wouldn't otheriwse have access to. People really tend to listen on twitter. 2) It gives me the chance to be the "social commentator that I really am, without having to get all into the big blog thing....I rarely have more than a tweet to start with. Microblogging is a great thing.
Linkedin is a simple tool, that I'm really using to find professional contacts. As I search for a new job, it's an invaluable tool to expand on my resume, and say what I REALLY want to in a resume, but can't because that's not how you write those. At this point, I don't think I would want to work for someone if they didn't bother to read my linkedin profile. It lets me show the truth about how I think I am professionally, and show the results of companies that I have worked for, by showing who I'm connected to from those companies (and where they are now) Like they say "It's not what you know but WHO you know" - polite namedropping if you will.
Facebook I use much like most people it seems. Making sure that I have a solid connection to old and new friends. Some place to share more personal happenings in my life, and really share & feel the love I have for and from those people. What I DON'T use Facebook for, is meeting new people..I can only think of one person I've met on Facebook....and that was a pure fluke.
Left out of your question, are tools like myspace, Tagged (which I have dropped for security breaches) and others like those. I use tools like those to actively meet people on a purely social level, with NO professional contacts having access to those profiles. I also direct people that I don't know, who've been recommended to me by friends, to connect to me there (myspace in particular). I don't want to have to control every little detail on my Facebook profile, and still want to meet new people - so I send them there. I use myspace as a primary outlet for social activities (like "casual gaming" ) that require "friends" .....I'm willing to be "friends" with TONS of people I don't know (and don't really need or care to know) so that Ican enjoy those things. I don't want my Facebook cluttered with a bunch of people I don't know. And honestly, I've met two ofmy very best friends online, and through Tagged (I was sure bummed to see them not care they have MASSIVE problems)
Also to note: I'm using ping.fm to simultaneously update my status on all of the above (facebook, twitter, linkedin, myspace) I put out one or two status broadcasts each day now, and they go to all those. I try to keep those broadcasts palatable for a wide, disparate audience. (Friends, potential employers, former collegues, Random gamers)
It's what I do with that first status line that is different on each. Linkedin....it just sits there - a thought for the day. Myspace, well I go update my Mood later....sometimes I get a comment or message based on the status, and maybe I make a new friend because of it. Facebook....those status lines get commented on a lot, andstart many discussions, not unlike the comment discussion here. and on twitter, it's just the starting point for the day. While I don't change the status too much on the other three through out the day, I may post several related tweets right after the first status broadcast. And then move onto other discussions as people sing in their own tweets.
Twitter allows one to not only be concise as someone pointed out but also it saves time for the reader to engage qucikly. On the other hand, as a father of children, knowing we are going to use these medium as well as text, I would like to see more interfaces with blogs or areas where you have integrated areas for longer communication. It is an internal conflict where creating short concise messages is wonderful while not killing the art of writing and communications and especially for kids learning to communicate. I know this is off point but, I see kids with limited vocabulary and lack of communciation skills.
So, I love the ability to interact with the past and present and certainly with the future but, let's all try to help our youth to gain eloquent comminucation skills before we teach them to abbreviate them.
Finally, I see the distinct need for both a personal and business acount. One where you can push business information and the other where you can be a participant in a meaningful conversation. Man (or woman) does not have 50,000 friends......or maybe if we did the world would become a better place. I see twitter as the pen pal of the 21st century. We can keep in contact with friends, make new friends and espouse our ideologies to those on a personal basis in far flung places in the world.
Charles Phillips
www.twitter.com/ushousing
LInkedIn is your professional side. It carriers a different look and format for networking with not a lot of conversation taking place. It is a virtual resume that I keep building. I have found expertise and guidance on this site. The application that can be added also change the look and feel of your homepage.
Twitter is so different I think folks are still learning not only why but how to use it. Myself included. Most important to me is that I think this is the platform to gain clients and maximize my business. There is a lightness to it because you give of yourself and receieve back with minimal words. How to make achieve the best for my clients and customers here and thus do better in my life is the question.
All three are important and each has to be nurtured. I don't seem the three overlapping nor integrating. Interesting times for social networking.
My question is " what is the next platform?". That is what I keep trying to get my head around.
I am on LinkedIn but aside from connecting with colleagues I have yet to find a purpose for it.
Twitter I thought was going to be silly but I am totally addicted as it fits my personality so well. I truly micro-blog on Twitter. Little thoughts, feelings etc that are too brief to merit a full blog entry, go on Twitter. I am starting to use it to market my jewelry as well.
I had to cull to get to that point - at first I had old schoolfriends etc that I hadn't seen in over a decade - then I realised there is a reason you drift away from people - I self censor a bit because of family and work related friends. There are a couple of Work friends that I added back when I first started using facebook that would rather not have, but it would be job suicide to remove them.
Twitter: I make it a rule to not knowingly add anyone I know IRL - I just use it to ask random questions, dribble on about random events, and try and help out people I find interesting - as I don't know anyone IRL there is also no need to censor myself.
I don't do linkedin, yet. My wife and I may be starting a business in the second half of this year - and if we do it will used strictly for business - and wont be under my usual internet name or addresses.
I have a couple of old gaming forum accounts from when I used to play online shooters - I let my inner child out there.
Cheers,
Erica Friedman
Yurikon LLC
Intelligent Business Promotion
http://twitter.com/Yuricon
Linkedin is a different story. Most business acquaintances I'll accept and as another comment suggested it is largely about your public, professional profile. I don't post updates here and I've only connected (through referrals) with a few folks purely through this site. Ultimately I like to watch what's happening on my professional landscape - flurries of activity, profile updates, qualifications or referrals, generally mean someone is about to jump ship (or has just been thrown overboard).
Twitter to me is the most interesting space; like an ongoing idea exchange, although spiced with a component of open dialogue. I believe that I am exposed to more interesting, creative and compelling individuals based on the quick link's, @responses and RT's. More bang for my buck that the volumes of RSS feeds that I get linked to long blog posts. I like the ability to scan, select and move on or promote as I see fit.
Facebook Use: Professionaly Personal Networking Tool.
We are real people with real thoughts and experiences. I use Facebook still for personal, but also make it known that i am using it for business. I get no more raunchy posts on my profile. I find value in two places primarily. Networked Blogs and Store Pages, which I create and maintain for many of my online clients.
LinkedIn: Professional Networking and Information Sharing.
I have been using it more and more and gain most value from the groups I belong to. If the groups are light on spam posts there is great value in some of the information shared in the discussion threads within the groups.
Twitter: Networking with Fun Twist
I very much enjoy the relationships I am building on Twitter, and sometimes even the simplest quote that is tweeted inspires me for a blog post. I give and share and share whatever i find to be valuable and give it freely. Twitter is an information source full of friends. Growing every day.
http://www.implementingscrum.com/2008/01/15/soc...
LinkedIn is purely for providing a face of my firm to the business public - for investors, recruiting employees, finding resources.
Twitter - still trying to figure out. Fun to follow other folks and I have learned a lot. But I have not yet established a twitter personality or role for me speaking to a general public. Also trying to figure out if Twitter (because of its public nature) has any role for my business
FB just with collegues & personal entirely.
Twitter-Actually i didn't understand twitter
Linkedin-Discussing professional topics all around
Facebook - For me, Facebook is a bit like my online "time machine". While I certainly use it to connect and keep in touch with my current circle of family, friends and acquaintances, I'm using it ever-increasingly to connect with the past - old high school and university guys and gals that I've fallen out of touch with, but still have interest in staying connecting. Almost everything that transpires on Facebook for me is of a purely personal nature.
I did try connecting my Twitter status to FB for a while, but that just didn't seem to work for my FB friends, many of whom have little notion of Twitter an the out-of-context @ replies
LinkedIn - is like my business family tree. I've been cultivating the connections for many years and this network has served me well for accelerating relationships, exploring new opportunities and introducing colleagues with mutual interests. It's purely business for me, although with some connections personnel interests bleed over.
Twitter - twitter is like real-time brain food. For me, it's a great source of refinement to get the the news and blogs that interest me most. I keep on top of trends, and constantly build my network via conversation with others. While FB has an element of dynamism to it, I find it less so than twitter, where it's all about dynamic, evolving conversations and a great means of conversing with, and ultimately engaging those that you share common interests with. While it's a bit of blend between personal commentary and business, it definitely has more of a business flavor for me
Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin
Twice a day, Once a week, Once a month
Why you use them and their users
Twitter
People you want to know and LEARN from
The interesting thing about twitter, despite its apparent casual nature, is the amount of really useful information on it, if you're interested in what's being deliberated about. The twitter crowd seems to have a higher proportion of people who are globally conscious and who seem really passionate about what they do. They seem to have merged both their work and life in a meaningful way.
Being on twitter is like entering a Mastermind conversation, which helps personal development.
Facebook
I think it's a mix between personal and professional networks.
Friends whom I've at least attended school with, gone on a trip or interacted once with.
The most common applications for me are: Photos, Wall, Inbox, Events. Btw, I apologise if I didn't take a quiz, post a list of 25 random things, play a poker game, access my Pet Society account.. nuff said.
LinkedIn
A good way to have an online CV? I know I'm not maximising the potential of it, but I found twitter..
Cheers,
Ryan
I don't have a facebook account and am not sure I could keep up with my personal site, a blog (coming soon), twitter and facebook. Might spread me too thin.
Twitter = Connecting with and following interesting people. Many of which I don't know in person.
LinkedIn = business only.
They all interconnect in some ways, as I've made new friends on all 3, discovered interesting people, organizations, and web sites on all 3, and have networked on all 3.
I use a conversational style across all platforms.
I see this platform as an interactive way for folks to share their educational and professional bodies of work, and use their relationship capital to leverage their career, or someone else's via a referral.
Facebook:
I see this platform as the "watercooler" of today. Being able to become engaged with people on a more personal level. Whether it's getting to know friends and classmates from middle school, high school or college, current and former work associates, or even customers, this platform allows you to really "get to know" them on a more personal level, all on your own time.
Twitter:
This developing platform seems to to be able to spark ones' curiosity from the links and comments posted by others. I've yet to truly delve into the twitterverse too deeply, but I'm sure there have been and will be some very special things coming out of this communications platform
Twitter: Sharing anything I find online (or is going on in my life) that has meaning to my community. Rapid posting is more acceptable, just don't over do it.
LinkedIn: Strictly professional. Started off mainly as a network for adding co-workers or people in my industry. Has developed more now that there are groups & status updates which I only really check when I get the bulk weekly digest email. Will be an important source if I find myself in un-employment. This social network is expected to become more popular in the future.
I'l explain:
Facebook: It's on a friends related base. You "see" each other every day, read 10 statis changes a day, you see photo albums of each other and can send gifts, etc. It's a relationship, and you have more depth in it. The other users get the chance to see your personaily in 360 degrees.
Tweeter: actually reacting to each other is less personal, the photo/gifts /games applications are almost non existed, and it only stays relevent to a very short period of time. I would say Twitter is more like a small talk. Where you try to be funny, interesting and smart in a very short peroid.
Linkedin: Is a buisness call, it's you have an almost accidental meeting with someone, given a one chane to impress him with your resume', and there you'd probably won't waste time in joking around.
I hope my massege was clear. The more volume the social platfrom gives you to intreduce yourself, the more you'll "be your social self".