Insert witty banter about pitting bitter rivals against one another. But I'm tired and lazy...
Though it's not really an apples to apples comparison, I thought I'd showcase how I've personally been adopting two hot trends in the world of Web 2.0 -- social networks and social... chatter. So let's put Facebook against Myspace and Twitter against Pownce, comparing simply a single metric -- "friendship".
I've had a Myspace account for over a year, though I pretty much blew it off until about six months ago.
Myspace Friends - 357
Only a month or so ago, I decide to give Facebook a try. Personally, I like it beter.
Facebook Friends - 81
I've been an avid user of Twitter ever since C.C. Chapman got me hooked on it months ago.
Twitter Followers - 418
And I'm going on two days of active Powncing.
Pownce Friends and Fans - 84
I'm not suggesting that one will win over the other, but I do tend to use the pairs of services in similar way. Each has their own nuances, and the difference in time (and activity) on my part speaks volumes to the delta in friendship size. But I wonder how it will grow and change? I wonder how you, the readers of this blog, will decide to influence those numbers?
Hi Evo
ReplyDeletePlease could I ask for a Pownce invite if you have one.
Kind Regards
Shaun
This showdown has been interesting. I bad mouthed MySpace forever, and yet this summer found myself on Facebook. I have to take back some of what I said (some... most people's designs are still hideous). I'm really enjoying Facebook, but right now it is further down my social networking radar because I don't have as many friends on there.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling the same thing would happen at Pownce. My work friends aren't all that techie (I'm a school teacher) so the only people I interact with over all this 2.0 media is web friends. I'm not sure enough of them will be in Pownce to make it worth my while, but of course who doesn't want to play on it.
Twitter is interesting because I stuck it out on there despite lack of work friends and have developed and strengthened the circle of online, geeky friends. That has been most rewarding.
This is obvious, but I think each one's success is dependent on your interaction with your friends. You find ways to work it into your way of living and communicating and it becomes a part of your online life. I look forward to hearing more about Pownce.
(And if any of this is rambling, please forgive. It's 1 am and I have no idea why I'm still awake :-) )
I used Facebook for about two months, then canceled my account all together. It ends up that MySpace, even with it's quirks, actually is more flexible for the type of social networking I want to do. I don't want to be confined to a locale or a region. I don't want every page I visit on a site to be private, so I don't even know if I *want* to connect with someone or not. At least with MySpace I have freedom to actually network the way I want to. The blog is also now my main personal blog.
ReplyDeleteI also found that I found no one new during my time at Facebook. Facebook might have a more professional feel to it, but that's what I use LinkedIn for.
As for Twitter and Pownce, I like them both very much, and they both instantly have proven worthy as networking tools, at least in regards to new listeners to my podcast.
I guess in the end, it just comes down to personal preference. :)
I first signed up for MySpace because so many of my friends were on it, and I wanted to be able to leave them comments. Over a year later, my husband's cousins extolled the virtues of Facebook, so I recently started using the Facebook account I'd previously thought was pretty useless.
ReplyDeleteBetween MySpace and Facebook, though, I prefer Facebook's forced clean design over MySpace's anything-goes design. I also like the fact that I can import entries from my "real" blog as notes, so fellow Facebookers can read my blog without actually going there (or subscribing to my feed elsewhere). MySpace does have a leg up on Facebook in the realm of more covert catching-up without actually being friends again. (I know there are some people from high school whose profiles I've enjoyed reading... but I definitely wouldn't want to friend them.) From the flip side of that argument, though, you could say that Facebook has a leg up on the privacy factor.
Being that I'm not constantly "wired" (i.e. I don't carry a cell phone or a laptop), the Twitter-type apps don't interest me, personally. Were I a college student again, and were anyone to care where I am and what I'm doing all hours of the day (hence the lack of a cell), I might be more into those kinds of apps. However... I *do* crave human contact, and that would be a form of it. I might check it out at some point...
Can't really comment on facebook vs. myspace as I haven't joined either. I can't seem to get them to fit into my life, although now they have applications, I should give facebook another look.
ReplyDeleteHowever on the pownce vs. twitter debate I suspect that the true measure is not where one has more friends, but the quality of the tweets / pownces that you receive. I'm on these services more for enjoyment then to win the popularity war. I've written up a technical breakdown on twitter vs. pownce here but until now never thought about how to judge the quailty of the networks. You've given me something to think about and write on, thanks.
Well a Pownce invitation landed in my email box this morning, so now I'll be able to follow the discussion on this issue that much more!
ReplyDelete