The Use and Functions of Facebook and Twitter - Essay Example

Comparison and Contrast of the Use and Functions of Facebook and Twitter Facebook and Twitter are two of the most popular social media websites of the contemporary age. Their use and functions have common as well as contrasting elements. This paper draws a comparison and contrast between Facebook and Twitter. Facebook’s use and functionality is more diverse and broader in range than that of Twitter. Table of Contents Serial No. Heading Page No. Abstract 1 Introduction 5 2 Methods 5 3 Results 5 3.1 Diversity of features 5 3.2 Number of users 5 3.3 Frequency of use 6 3.4 Type of use 6 3.5 Revenue 6 4 Discussion 6 4.1 Diversity of features 6 4.1.1 Significance 6 4.2 Number of users 6 4.2.1 Significance 7 4.3 Frequency of use 7 4.3.1 Significance 7 4.4 Type of use 7 4.4.1 Significance 7 4.5 Revenue 8 4.5.1 Significance 8 5 Conclusion 8 6 References 9 1. Introduction The role of Facebook and Twitter in shaping the modern world cannot be overemphasized. Both social media websites are very popular among people since they provide them with the services they need mostly free of charge. The aims and objectives of the report are to compare and contrast the use and function of Facebook and Twitter. While the topic is suitable for an in-depth scientific research that involves primary data collection and study of public opinion through surveys and interviews, the scope of research of this paper is limited to the information available online. Comparison and contrast is based on the facts reported by various sources online. 2. Methods The procedure followed for this comparison and contrast was online research. Websites used as sources contained reliable information mostly from published papers and peer reviewed sources. Finding the required information posed the challenge of reading a lot of articles. The reported sources were verified to confirm that the information came from the sources as mentioned. 3. Results 3.1 Diversity of features The features of Facebook include but are not limited to friends, news feed, games, apps, ads, likes, text messages, live chat, photos, videos, gifts, status, links, polls, and separate pages for advertisements. The features of Twitter include tweeting, retweeting, following people, photos, videos, links, and direct messaging. 3.2 Number of users Facebook’s users are over 1.28 billion in number (Diffen n.d.). Twitter’s users are over 500 million in number (Diffen n.d.). According to Tappin (2014), the number of active users on Facebook is 1.23 billion whereas the number of active users on Twitter is 232 million. 3.3 Frequency of use 350,000 tweets on Twitter and 382,000 likes on Facebook have been recorded every minute in 2014 (McCarthy 2014). 3.4 Type of use The most common use of Facebook is to update the users on what is happening around them and in others’ lives. The most common use of Twitter is to speed up what is happening, “often becoming a source in and of itself” (DeMers 2013). 3.5 Revenue In the Q1 to Q3 of 2013, the revenue of Facebook was $5287 million whereas the revenue of Twitter in the same time period was $422 million (Bennett 2013). 4 Discussion 4.1 Diversity of features Facebook wins the competition in the diversity of features; “Twitter is a microblogging service while Facebook has many facets including a microblogging component” (Tagtmeier 2015). 4.1.1 Significance Diversity of features matters a lot in the success of a social media website. People want everything on the same platform. They do not like switching from one site to another to use different functions. Diverse and large range of features is what makes Facebook more popular than Twitter. 4.2 Number of users Facebook is approximately five times as popular among people as Twitter as reflected in the number of users of the respective companies. 4.2.1 Significance The number of users a social media website has tells how popular that website is. Obviously the profitability is connected to the popularity of a social media website. Their large number of users is what makes Facebook and Twitter social media giants of the present age. 4.3 Frequency of use While the results show that Facebook is used more frequently than Twitter in terms of the comparison of likes and tweets respectively, Facebook’s frequency of use in other areas like photo sharing, video sharing, posting, and chatting is even greater than this. 4.3.1 Significance Frequency of use also reflects the popularity as well as importance of a social media website. Many people use social media websites on their mobiles and tablets in addition to laptops which increases the frequency of use. Frequency of use also tells which segment of the target audience or consumer is the website more popular in. Knowledge of this factor helps the social media websites increase the usability of their websites to those consumers, and accordingly increase their profitability. 4.4 Type of use Facebook is used for all types of things by common people as well as celebrities. While Twitter is also used by common people as well, its main focus is on celebrities or anybody with a slightly elevated status in the society in terms of achievements or fame. 4.4.1 Significance The type of use is what fundamentally creates difference between Facebook and Twitter. Every person these days makes account on Facebook but Twitter is often optional. In the news, it is often heard that some famous person tweeted on Twitter rather than posted a post on Facebook. Tweeting is more political whereas Facebook posting is just a regular everyday thing. 4.5 Revenue Facebook makes a lot more revenue than Twitter. One contributing factor to this discrepancy is ads. “Twitter didnt include any ads for years—it launched its first ads, "promoted tweets," in the summer of 2010, but didnt launch any ads on mobile until last summer. Facebook, in contrast had some sort of ads when it launched back in 2004, and opened up to ad networks in 2006” (Boorstin 2013). In addition to ads, Facebook’s variety of features is much more than that of Twitter and accordingly, its revenues are more. 4.5.1 Significance The first and the foremost concern of any social media website is revenue. Revenue and profit making is what these websites are created for. Hence, the importance of revenue in social media website business cannot be overestimated. Results indicate that the revenue of Facebook is much more compared to that of Twitter. This is quite understandable considering the factors discussed above in all of which, Facebook clearly wins over Twitter. 5 Conclusion While Facebook and Twitter are two of the most popular social media websites, Twitter is far behind Facebook in terms of functions and use. Facebook provides much more diverse functions which is why, its users are far more in number than those of Twitter. Both websites have unique approaches to social networking. While Facebook is more meant for common man without being restricted to common man alone, Twitter is much more of a political platform for well-known personalities, but again, without being limited to them. Twitter can diversify its functions and features in order to get closer to Facebook in terms of use and revenue. 6 References: Bennett, S 2013, Facebook Vs Twitter: Revenue, Users, Average Time Spent, Key Mobile Data [STATS], SocialTimes, [Online] Available at http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/facebook-vs-twitter-data-stats/492819 [accessed: 13 April 2015]. Boorstin, J 2013, Facebook vs. Twitter: Heres how theyre different, CNBC, [Online] Available at http://www.cnbc.com/id/101087718 [accessed: 13 April 2015]. DeMers, J 2013, Twitter vs. Facebook: How Do They Compare? HuffingtonPost, [Online] Available at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jayson-demers/twitter-vs-facebook_b_3869786.html [accessed: 13 April 2015]. Diffen n.d., Facebook vs. Twitter, [Online] Available at http://www.diffen.com/difference/Facebook_vs_Twitter [accessed: 13 April 2015]. McCarthy, N 2014, Facebook Versus Twitter In Numbers [Infographic], Forbes, [Online] Available at http://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2014/10/14/facebook-versus-twitter-infographic/ [accessed: 13 April 2015]. Tagtmeier, C 2015, Facebook vs. Twitter: Battle of the Social Network Stars, Information Today, [Online] Available at http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/sep10/Tagtmeier.shtml [accessed: 13 April 2015]. Tappit, S 2014, Facebook vs. Twitter: Who wins the battle for our social attention? pandodaily, [Online] Available at http://pando.com/2014/02/06/facebook-vs-twitter-who-wins-the-battle-for-our-social-attention/ [accessed: 13 April 2015]. Read More