Social media network junkies are at each other’s throats about which online networking site should take home the title of being the “most popular” online networking site. At the moment it is between the one and only Facebook and the up-and-coming contender, Twitter. In the last three months alone Twitter has jumped 414 positions up on the popularity rank. According to stats 500 percent more users visit the site now than they did just three months ago. Social media sites are so simple to access. For everyone that has a cell phone that is EDGE enabled, it is easy to create a profile.

Facebook
As aforementioned, Facebook is considered the reigning king of social media. Originally, it was designed by Mark Zuckerberg so that students at Harvard University could communicate with each other outside of the lecture halls. In 2012 Facebook has developed into the network of all networking sites with over 845 million users registered to it.

On the other hand, there’s Twitter which could be seen as the competitor as it is quite similar to Facebook. Twitter allows you to link sites with shortened links. It also gives you the option to upload videos and Twitpics. Yet one of the most noticeable differences between Facebook and Twitter is that with Twitter you are only allowed to use 140 characters to write your update. This is almost equivalent to the length of a mobile phone text message, so tweets can be seen as text message for the internet. A feature that Twitter has that Facebook does not, is the infamous hashtag. Twitter posts are known for linking their topics through hashtags which allow users to search and access a topic much easier.

Recently it’s been determined that fans would rather engage with brands on Facebook than Twitter. According to Jan Rezab, founder of the social media analytics company Socialbakers, Facebook is good for brands that wish to “engage people in conversation and a dialogue providing its fans with a feeling of exclusivity”. Rezab also states that fans are able to “access all of the brand’s interesting content in pictures, albums, links, status updates and more”. Facebook is extremely user friendly, and it allows the fans to engage on the site easily and follow latest updates. Through Facebook a company is able to build their brand and customer relationships. However, the Facebook user would have to ‘like’ the company’s fan page in order to view content. On Twitter there is a possibility that content reaches more users as the pages are public by default.

Facebook or Twitter, it’s all up to you. One ought to remember that Facebook has been up and running since 2004 but Twitter is still growing in the industry, and thus the main site is sure to change over time. Considering the number of users registering on Twitter daily, it’s possible that in future Twitter will surpass Facebook as the king of social media networks.

Lindse is a social media intern at R.O.I Media, keeping up to date with the latest articles on social media marketing and social media strategies.