Facebook status to kill off Twitter? I doubt it.

NB Since I wrote this Mashable has written this article about the issue. (Take note, no uk compatability for mobile updating [same as no photo printing, or advert running]. Does something tell you that Facebook aren't taking the UK seriously? Besides the fact that anyone living in the South East can only choose London or Portsmouth as their networks, agh! Good job they've got the networking bit down!)

There has been alot of speculation regarding whether the Facebook status feature will kill off Twitter, or at least dampen it's use. To me there is no real conflict between the two. I mean I use both, ALOT admittedly, and use them completely differently.

The Facebook status is for you to tell your friends (people who know you personally) about what you are doing.
You can tell them you are going home for three months and leaving your uni house empty. You can tell them that you just saw a photo of Dave with Andrea who have previously claimed they hate each other (and then share a photo through facebooks share feature to prove it) because they will care about that information. You can tell people you are happy, or sad, or excited, and this will stand (big and proud under your name, thanks to the new facebook layout) until you change it when your mood changes. (And annoyingly you must write your status to conform with '*Your Name* is...' and if you don't type your status in the third person it appears with the grammar of a three year old). Facebook status is a fantastic Facebook extra, but this is not Twitter. Or at least this is not Twitter for me.

Twitter is about sharing web articles, sharing funny and amusing things that have happened, sharing funny and amusing thoughts, sharing deep thoughts. You don't want to tell the whole world on Twitter that your house is empty (as I have mentioned in my previous post about Twitter) for obvious security reasons. Many of your Twitter friends may not know you personally and so don't care about what Dave and Andrea have been doing. And if you mention you are happy, or sad, or excited it is a snapshot of that moment in time (not a continued feeling until you say otherwise).

And those are not the only ways Twitter is different to Facebook.

• Being able to update amusing thoughts from sms is a major plus point of Twitter for me. Often you will think of something amusing only to forget it a couple of mins later. Facebook does not offer text updating yet.
  
• Often there is something that does not warrant a whole blog post, that can be shown in 140 characters. Using Facebook status for linking articles etc is practically unknown.
  
• Each update you make is given a permalink making it easy to share other peoples thoughts, and your own, with people outside Twitter as well as the whole Twitter community. Facebook status can only be seen by your friends and your network.
  
• The Twitter public timeline and search systems such as Twittersearch and Twitterment allow you to find and follow people who interest you via phone, im or on the web.
• Addons allow flexibility of updating. You don't need to log into the site to share with the world.

One thing I would say however, is that if you are privately updating to your personal network of friends it is possible the similarities between Facebook status and Twitter would be more pronounced.
But these are different services, providing very different things. Facebook status is just one of the many things Facebook offers. Twitter is about broader social networking, beyond your group of friends. Eventually as Facebook develops its features further, and Twitter begins to add more complex features and options, they may become more similar. However suggestions that either of these services is intruding on the other to any real degree at this point just seems silly.

Shinyshiny article: Why I love Facebook
Twitterati Article: Will Facebook kill off Twitter?

Facebook Diaries Finally Launches!

I'm so glad it has finally happened because I have actually been telling people about this for months and they haven't believed me. I can't remember where I first read it either BUT it is true. Facebook are working alongside Ziddio (a video sharing site) to have Facebook users create video diary entries about their lives, of which the best will be shown on tv (and i remember from the earlier rumour possibly as a film at the cinema). I think this project will be very interesting, loving as I do finding out about people. Will it catch on? Certainly, everyone I know eventually gives in and loves Facebook, alot of people want to be famous, it combines the two! Will I be entering video diary entries about my life? Probably not. Will I watch some? Almost certainly. The Facebook Ziddo group is here.

Holly's Inbox

I'm having a bit of a weird day, and it just got a whole lot weirder. Do you like reading emails of strangers? Do you like feeling like a bit of a stalker (if you use Facebook you must do)? Then check out Holly's Inbox which is meant to be a bit like reading a book, or perhaps a diary, only it's in the form of emails... I have to be honest I don't really get it (and have enough of my own emails to check) but it is there, it's a little kooky, and well it's a good procrastination tool.

Here is the article at shinyshiny.tv where I discovered it.

Help towards a Breast Cancer Mammogram!

The Breast Cancer site is apparently having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman. Click on the link to the Breast Cancer site, and then click the pink window in the centre. Only takes two seconds, and you can help by visiting the site every day!

If you are a Facebook user like myself there is a Facebook group here regarding this, so you can join and invite your friends to a good cause.

There are many ways to support the Breast Cancer cause, another is buying products like this Kensington Pink si750 wireless mouse from which 10% goes to the Breast Cancer Campaign.

Twitter: What are YOU doing?!

I thought I should perhaps tell you a little something about Twitter because until very recently I had never heard of it. Apparently taking America by storm, this site allows you to make short updates (text length minus your 13 character user name) by accessing the site, GoogleChat or text messages, all to answer the key question 'What are you doing?'. You can opt to only allow your friends see your updates, and if you don't choose this option then anyone can opt to 'follow' you, which essentially means they can choose to be instant messaged or texted your updates. Now in my opinion the texting thing is slightly scary and stalker-like, as if you are publicly updating then some random in Brazil could be being texted the fact that you are 'just leaving the house' BUT then again like many of these networking sites you can only be stalked by how much information you give. It would be sensible for example to not be updating with 'in house all on my own, forgot to lock the doors, have lots of expensive electrical equipment'.

The major advantage of the site is being able to blog quickly, and it does make you consider what you write much more as you have to be informative and amusing in a minimum number of characters, particularly if you are posting publicly. My favourite posts are not the ones about going to buy shopping, they are the ones that tell you something interesting, funny and amusing.

Overall it seems pointless when you first join, just like a site dedicated to the 'status' feature of Facebook, but definately grows on you. My turning point was the morning it snowed last week, and on the public timeline you could see the reactions of people all around the country, VERY interesting.

On a more informative note you can also choose to receive news updates from BBC England, and could effectively just use it as a free text information service.

On a less informative note apparently you can follow Macworld (I don't have one and so won't be), and there are rumours that many tv/film directors are planning on joining, including the director of My Name is Earl... or that Ed show, i can't remember which or where I read it...

NB. It is Mike Pennie, writer/producer of 'My Name is Earl'. Find his twittering here. And I rediscovered this on the Twitter blog here.