Collect Experiences. Not Things. :')

December 01, 2013

Twitter vs. Facebook

"Facebook is for connecting with the people you went to school with and Twitter is for people you wished you had gone to school with."

"There will always be a high degree of overlap between the two, but Facebook is more about personal connections and Twitter is more about public "broadcasted" conversations and emphasizes real-time trends in the world."

Twitter is the best for watching TV shows with funny people. People you've never met, but are some of the funniest people you'll interact with.  Some are so spot on with their comments. Often there are times when I laugh the next day at someone's tweet. Twitter is also the best when News items are trending. It was huge in the last election. It'll be even bigger in the next. I'm sure. Twitter cuts out the News organizations, celebrities and politicians can go right to the public. Similarly, music producers or political handlers can state their views, without have to be filtered through a News organization.   

Twitter is a lot more addicting that Facebook. A LOT! The discussion of race and culture is phenomenal. When in history did people from a certain culture get to hear the inter-thoughts of others from another culture - like Dominican, Mexican, African-American, White-Anglo - blasted over the internet. Pre-internet, these conversations and comments were only shared within families say at the dinner table or family gatherings. But it's like you have access to that dinner table conversation. People tweet their inter-thoughts and feelings. It's very revealing. 

People on Twitter are always calling each other racist, but it becomes a learning experience.  People have the chance to explain themselves, but aren't allowed to make long speeches.  You get to know other people and start to respect their opinion.  If you don't respect their opinion, you just unfollow.  After a while, you can really get to know the spirit and humor of a person, without all the baggage and personal you'd be susceptible to if you met them in person. If you're hanging out with a friend in "real life" you have to be engaged, but on Twitter it doesn't matter.  People are just there. Yet, there's is always someone to engage with. Moreover unlike in "real life", where you are stuck with the geographic limits of your family and friends, in the Twitter universe there are no geographic limits. You communicate with people all over the world, provided you are interested in what they are saying and their humor matches your own (critical for me). 

The world is changing fast. New virtual communities are being created everyday. The geographic limits typically defining culture and traditions are crumbling fast. It's a brave new world! Kids are no longer asking their parents or grandparents for advice they seeking this advice from the internet. 

No comments: