Aviously

Continuing the theme from yesterday, in which I continue to place Twitter on a pedestal over Facebook.

There are a lot of great uses for Twitter, that  Facebook doesn’t always offer you.

Facebook is slowly catching up with Hashtags and the Facebook Newswire, but when push comes to shove, Twitter is the place to go for breaking news and fast moving actions (such as the NHL trade deadline, which this year was an incredible day to be following along on Twitter).

It’s as simple as using the search bar on Twitter and putting in the topic at hand, and once you see a bunch of tweets all sharing a common hashtag, just click on that hashtag, and enjoy keeping up 🙂 Also, you can go straight to the Twitter searches, by going to search.twitter.com.

Another thing I use it for is updates on games and apps. Most developers and companies have a Twitter account, and are eager to keep their followers up to date on what they are doing.

One of the recent uses I had for it is when Sim City updated to allow the much waited for “Offline Mode”. With them keeping us up to date on it, and letting us know when it was released, it left the wondering out of it, which is always nice.

And lastly for today is Customer Service.

Customer service on Twitter is amazing, and almost instantaneous. Complain and mention a company, and they will be sure to respond.

On the flip side, compliment a company, and they’ll usually respond as well.

My recent experiences with Saddleback Leather (@SaddlebackHelp) have resulted in great customer service, and a very happy customer.

Yup, I think Twitter > Facebook.

Let’s start on a simple level.

On Facebook, you have everyone you know, have ever known, or ever met, all clogging up your newsfeed. Sure, I may be friends with you, but we have absolutely nothing in common, so why should I have to read every thought you have on your vegetarian meals or Game of Thrones addiction.

On Twitter, I follow tons of people, that I know absolutely nothing about, but share the same interests as me, and talk about things I actually care about.

Next.

On Facebook, because you have all these people you know, you expect them to care about things you say, as they are “Friends” (by Facebook standards). So when a random person comments on your status or post, the first question is “Who are you?” and “Why are you commenting on my thing”, regardless if what they are saying has to do with what is being discussed.

On the flip side is Twitter. If someone posts something on Twitter (such as a question or fact, among other things), anyone can respond to it, and it’s completely normal, as they are usually discussing the topic at hand.

Now as to why I think Twitter is healthier:

On Facebook, I try to talk to one of my friends on a post, and their other friends (who I may have nothing to do with) will rip into me. In such a case, you’d think that the friend would step in and say something…but 9 times out of 10, they just sit back and let things happen.

On Twitter, I have made connections with people from all over the country (No seriously. I have had conversations with people from Dallas to Seattle to the Carolinas.). All because we share interests and have things in common.

And that brings me to trolls.

Facebook is loaded with them. Hundreds of people waiting to pick on anything any random person says, and harp on it.

On Twitter, unless you are a celebrity, you generally won’t get trolled. Sure, you may get Spammed from bogus accounts, but once you weed those out, they are gone for good. (As in: My first few months on Twitter I got them a lot…after blocking them, in recent years I haven’t seen much of them.)

And lastly (for this post). Celebrities.

Where else can you rub elbows and have conversations and connections with people in the public scene, besides Twitter?

I have had conversations with actors and actresses about upcoming shows/movies/episodes (Hello @Heybrooklynlowe). Have made connections to sports stars, that have led to great little perks (Why thank you @StewartHaasRcng for the personalized Tony Stewart signed cap). And even had sports anchors glare into my soul (Thanks Julie Stewart-Binks (@JSB_FOX))!

Oh, and did I mention that my favorite sports teams have sent me birthday wishes over the years? (Thanks Dallas Cowboys and New York Rangers 🙂 )

So yes, I have been on and off of Facebook for almost 7 years (was in the first 70 million users…they are now up to 1.3 billion), joining it in 2007. While Twitter I didn’t join until exactly three years later.

But Twitter has quickly become my favorite Social Media child.