5 ms·

>but really people are just using 2, Facebook and Twitter, making Friendfeed unnecessary. Make that one, since Twitter has only 5-6 million users (about 4 mill

by nir 18y ago

>but really people are just using 2, Facebook and Twitter, making Friendfeed unnecessary. Make that one, since Twitter has only 5-6 million users (about 4 million of whom seem to be "internet marketing" consultants) I think you're right about people just using Facebook for everything, making Friendfeed unnecessary. In my opinion the same will happen with Twitter - if microblogging hits mainstream it will be on FB's Twitter-like functionality rather than Twitter itself.

Brushfire 18y ago
Really? I guess I use facebook and twitter in different ways than you. For me, facebook is about connecting with people from high school, sharing photos, and keeping tabs on random family members. Twitter, on the other hand, is about communication with core friends and keeping track of companies/services I'm interested in. The two are very distinct for me, and I really appreciate the separation.
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
- nir 18y ago
  I agree, but I think that you and me and other HN users are a niche. Twitter serves that niche well (6 million users after 3 years of constant hype proves it is a niche IMHO), but I think for an FB size audience the usage patterns will be different.
  - Brushfire 18y ago
    I think we are on the same page, but to be fair, twitter is just starting to ramp up growth wise. And facebook has an easier growth path -- college students. That said, I think twitter could see tremendous growth in 2-3 years -- leaving its niche as companies, groups, and close friends use it more regularly.
  - catch23 18y ago
    Not necessarily. The core of twitter allows anyone to "follow" anyone else. Whereas for facebook, you need to first become a friend of that person before you start getting updates. People on twitter easily have thousands of followers even though most of those aren't "real" friends. You could probably do that with facebook, but it would defeat the purpose of having friends & family on there if 95% of your friends were random people on the internet that just wanted to follow your status updates.
- mcdowall 18y ago
  I think I would have to agree, though I use a couple more, for example Like yourself I use Facebook for breifly chatting to friends and family, though I predominantly use it for Photos and Events. Twitter on the other hand I use as a tool for promotion, especially the search function and following users in my niche. Other than that I use LinkedIn for my professional profile and Posterous for uploading photos to my Facebook & Flickr photo albums from my Iphone. Im still holding out for a central repository for all my usernames and passwords, I must have about 30 active sites I visit on a daily basis and really struggle to keep up with them
johns 18y ago
I disagree. I think the most popular use case for Twitter involves following a bunch of people you don't know, or barely know. For tech people, this works great because you can follow people in your field (may or may not be friends). For plain ol' Jane and John Doe, they can follow celebrities or people that align with their interests (may or may not be friends). Unless Facebook allows a more one-way relationship, it won't really compete more with Twitter. Until then, they'll overlap in a few places, but I think they'll each keep succeeding at what they're best at already.
- rs 18y ago
  You are spot on . Twitter has an asymmetric follow model, whereas Facebook tends to be guided towards smaller closed networks. Here's where I learnt about "asymmetric follow" : http://www.redmonk.com/jgovernor/2008/12/05/assymetrical-follow-a-core-web-20-pattern/ http://www.redmonk.com/jgovernor/2008/12/05/assymetrical-fol...
  - amvp 18y ago
    Yes. That's what fan pages allow - asymmetric follow. I think we'll see facebook pushing the fan page model for certain users (facebook.com/person_name)
    - johns 18y ago
      Asymmetric follow is just part of it. Asymmetric conversation is the other. Fan pages let companies/celebs/etc broadcast, but they don't facilitate conversations the way Twitter does.
Alex3917 18y ago
Twitter is also growing at 1350% year over year.
- dschobel 18y ago
  which is clearly a sustainable rate...

by nir 18y ago

Brushfire 18y ago

Really? I guess I use facebook and twitter in different ways than you. For me, facebook is about connecting with people from high school, sharing photos, and keeping tabs on random family members. Twitter, on the other hand, is about communication with core friends and keeping track of companies/services I'm interested in. The two are very distinct for me, and I really appreciate the separation.

deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
nir 18y ago
I agree, but I think that you and me and other HN users are a niche. Twitter serves that niche well (6 million users after 3 years of constant hype proves it is a niche IMHO), but I think for an FB size audience the usage patterns will be different.
- Brushfire 18y ago
  I think we are on the same page, but to be fair, twitter is just starting to ramp up growth wise. And facebook has an easier growth path -- college students. That said, I think twitter could see tremendous growth in 2-3 years -- leaving its niche as companies, groups, and close friends use it more regularly.
- catch23 18y ago
  Not necessarily. The core of twitter allows anyone to "follow" anyone else. Whereas for facebook, you need to first become a friend of that person before you start getting updates. People on twitter easily have thousands of followers even though most of those aren't "real" friends. You could probably do that with facebook, but it would defeat the purpose of having friends & family on there if 95% of your friends were random people on the internet that just wanted to follow your status updates.
mcdowall 18y ago
I think I would have to agree, though I use a couple more, for example Like yourself I use Facebook for breifly chatting to friends and family, though I predominantly use it for Photos and Events. Twitter on the other hand I use as a tool for promotion, especially the search function and following users in my niche. Other than that I use LinkedIn for my professional profile and Posterous for uploading photos to my Facebook & Flickr photo albums from my Iphone. Im still holding out for a central repository for all my usernames and passwords, I must have about 30 active sites I visit on a daily basis and really struggle to keep up with them

johns 18y ago

I disagree. I think the most popular use case for Twitter involves following a bunch of people you don't know, or barely know. For tech people, this works great because you can follow people in your field (may or may not be friends). For plain ol' Jane and John Doe, they can follow celebrities or people that align with their interests (may or may not be friends). Unless Facebook allows a more one-way relationship, it won't really compete more with Twitter. Until then, they'll overlap in a few places, but I think they'll each keep succeeding at what they're best at already.

rs 18y ago
You are spot on . Twitter has an asymmetric follow model, whereas Facebook tends to be guided towards smaller closed networks. Here's where I learnt about "asymmetric follow" : http://www.redmonk.com/jgovernor/2008/12/05/assymetrical-follow-a-core-web-20-pattern/ http://www.redmonk.com/jgovernor/2008/12/05/assymetrical-fol...
- amvp 18y ago
  Yes. That's what fan pages allow - asymmetric follow. I think we'll see facebook pushing the fan page model for certain users (facebook.com/person_name)
  - johns 18y ago
    Asymmetric follow is just part of it. Asymmetric conversation is the other. Fan pages let companies/celebs/etc broadcast, but they don't facilitate conversations the way Twitter does.

Alex3917 18y ago

Twitter is also growing at 1350% year over year.

dschobel 18y ago
which is clearly a sustainable rate...