Social media insight: Why is Twitter like public transport while Facebook is like a home?

You’ve probably heard a lot of talk across town about Twitter vs Facebook and privacy concerns particularly related to Facebook’s personal disclosure. Perhaps this reflects the lack of understanding for these two very different creatures, and social media at large.You may like to think about these two as the familiar setting of public transport compared to a glass-walled home.  

On platform Twitter, you have a quick way to get your brand’s message rattling across the airwaves. Soon your brand can become that familiar voice. Kind of like catching the train each day on the same concrete platform at the same time. After a few weeks of awkwardness, you begin to become comfortable with the strangers sitting around you. You like the sound of Joe's voice (left side-seat two) because he often talks about his children and they remind you of your own, and how much you like to talk about them. Trust can be developed without direct one-on-one engagement here. 



However, (much the same as our own) Twitter’s public transport system is lacking. While it may provide comfort and a level of trust, who wants to live in a subway? Facebook provides this home. A place where we can relax and be comfortable. Many people are expressing fears of privacy on Facebook, and perhaps this shows a gap between early adopters and laggards. Why? Because the strange and unique home that Facebook provides, is not in privacy, but in the comfort of being known by many. Mass transparency of your desirable projected self. A place to show as many people as possible all the good things in your life, and have as many people 'like' them as possible. A sense of positive-self that flows from mass-online community, into individual esteem and belonging. Facebook provides untapped and limitless sources of value creation for businesses who understand the comforts its glass walls provide.


-Jason Lewis