Friend or Follower

How does one even begin to embark upon defining what Twitter is?  To be honest, I don’t think the majority of people (even those who use it quite successfully) understand it’s full potential just quite yet. I was first introduced to Twitter last summer when my brother @thejohnbunn was almost continuously tweeting (term for posting an update to twitter). At the time I had become very tired of people on Facebook telling me that they just fed their baby or went to the bathroom. The news feed on Facebook had begun to become irrelevant to me. You can imagine how I felt after finding out that Twitter was basically Facebook minus everything except the news feed plus a limit of 140 characters.

In other words… I had absolutely no interest in Twitter. A few months later I was taking Graduate Marketing Management with @drstevegreen and one of the books that he assigned for the class to read was Twitter Power, by Joel Comm. This book (and the class) enlightened me as to how Twitter could be used appropriately. Although the book didn’t exclusively say it, I have personally found that the key difference, however subtle it might be, was in relevance. Because Twitter has the ‘follower’ setup, you choose exactly what you have coming into your stream.

Friend or Follower: The Subtle Difference

On Facebook, in order for you to get my updates you and I would have to be friends. Now, let’s be honest. Most random people who send you a friend request don’t get your approval. The word friend suggests that you should know the person. The system inherently wants you to only share content with people you are friends or at least acquaintances with. Before Twitter, I had no issue with this system. In fact, I was really comfortable with this idea.

And then there was Twitter… Twitter has brought about the follower system. The core difference is that you can become my follower and I don’t have to give you approval. Nor do I have to stream your content through my stream. This lends itself to a very different type of relationship. For example, I can get content updates from SmashingMag or status updates from legendary CEO Jack Welch, something impossible through Facebook. If Jack Welch had a Facebook, there is no possible way he could accept everyone as a friend who would want his updates.

And this brings me to what I wrote about last week: The Fan Page. The Fan Page operates essentially like a Twitter account does, somewhat enabling Facebook to do everything that Twitter does and then some.

Less is More

While I think the advent of things like the Fan Page are critical to the continuous growth (and profitability) of Facebook, I think that one thing Twitter has done exceptionally well is they have found something and decided to do that one thing better than anyone else. They have chosen simplicity over complexity. There is a certain demographic that appreciates the simplicity of Twitter and thus Twitter continues to grow. In terms of sheer capability, Facebook dominates twitter. But when you bring in the idea of minimalism or being modern, Twitter is on the money.

The takeaway here is that if you go into Twitter thinking that it is something worth replacing Facebook with, you’re going to be unsatisfied. It’s not intended to replace Facebook. It’s a completely different beast with a unique set of users. So how can you use Twitter to benefit your business? Here are a few key examples:

1. You can use it as a resource – I personally follow SmashingMag, Jack Welch, and Joel Comm among others. SmashingMag offers all kinds of awesome design and web tips with links to fabulous blogs, Jack Welch offers management and leadership tips and links, and Joel offers all kinds of goodness.

2. Use it to become a resource –  The Gaming Blog that I created several years ago and still write for / manage (@TeamCovenant) uses Twitter to interact with customers, provide updates, host contests, and announce every time a new blog goes up. You can do anything with twitter, but the primary reason for becoming a resource would be to provide useful content of some kind assuming your target can be reached on Twitter.

3. Use it to stay connected – I also follow lots of people who are in my local social network of friends and family. My content on twitter is much more selective than on Facebook, so I generally only follow people who are somewhat important in my mind.

We just set up a Twitter account for Business Over Coffee, so if you want to get a tweet every time we post something new or have something to talk about, you can find us @bizovercoffee. I’ll be blogging more on social media in the coming weeks, so if you are interested hold on tight as we take a long journey through the world of social media. If you have any questions or great examples, I’d love to hear from you.

Zach