Why I Prefer Facebook Over Twitter

There has been a lot of news buzz lately about Twitter and how Facebook is on its way out and what not. I don't think so. I'm not exactly sure where all this is all coming from. I tweet. It's fun. I mainly use it for marketing purposes. I own a company and my tweets are representing my brand. It's very important to utilize twitter for business purposes. I admit, twitter can be very entertaining at times. Other times, I sign onto Twitter, read some of the ridiculous trending hashtags and wonder what the hell is wrong with the world. I like to follow the trends and I enjoy reading tweets about tv shows and other fun topics. I also like to see what's trending because again, I feel it's important for business. On a personal level though.. I'm not so sure. While I won't argue that twitter can be a great source for discovering news, often before many other mediums, I don't need to look on my dashboard and see things like  #savebieber #swagyolobitches #LiesToldByFemales #ragemyfaceoff. Yeah, all these things might be trending at the same time as a some serious news story and it all just seems a little weird.

Social networks are for socializing but the truth is, a lot of my friends are not even on Twitter. My friends that are on twitter, don't even usually find my tweets unless they happen to be on the same time as me. It works pretty much the same when it comes to me finding their tweets. The feed can get extremely cluttered by spam and all kinds of things I have no interest in. I don't have this problem on facebook. If I post something important on Facebook, most of my close friends are going to see it and respond to it. But on Twitter, I will get maybe one interaction or response for every 10 tweets. That to me seems like a whole bunch of people tweeting and not many people listening. There are also other features on facebook like photo albums, tagging photos, etc. You can tag someone in a twitter post, but not on a twitter photo...but in order for other people to notice your photo, you would have to tag them as well. This makes my efforts seem like they are not really worth my effort on a personal level. As I mentioned, I think it's important for business branding, but other than that, I don't think I would be tweeting very much.

Facebook Post Leads to Rescue of Missing MD Girl

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that a tip posted on Facebook by a hotel clerk has led to the rescue of a girl that went missing in Baltimore County. The hotel clerk saw the Amber Alert while browsing through her Facebook newsfeed. She alerted police immediately after she recognized a picture of the missing girl that was posted by a friend and realized she was staying in her South Carolina hotel. The father is said to have kidnapped the 11-year old and the phone call from the clerk led to his arrest. Sadly, it is also been reported that the father has allegedly been arrested for the murder of the girls mother. But the child is safe and has a twin sister.

It's very nice to see social media playing a major role in leading to the arrest of a kidnapper and alleged murderer. It's also really nice to hear the the child was found safe. I get amber alerts on my phone but I'm not always sure what to make of them. They don't usually have a lot of information. The power of social media to be used for something good makes me very thankful we have it.

Read the full story here

How Long Can Facebook Go On?

How long can Facebook go on? Everyone keeps saying that it's on it's way out but I don't see it slowing down. In fact, I still see new friends showing up every now and then. I've also noticed that some of my friends will kind of disappear but the reappear out of nowhere. Reports say that teens don't think Facebook is cool anymore because parents and grandparents are on it. Since when do we put all our investments in what teens say? They aren't even old enough to drink. I don't think Facebook is going anywhere. The stock has doubled even after taking a big dip with the IPO went public. Twitter shares were doing well too but have taken a dip in recent weeks. Social media and smartphones have become so consuming that they've taken over our lives. I'm not against it. I think these are extremely powerful marketing tools. I think Facebook will be around for a long time. I don't see it becoming an empty abandoned carnival like Myspace.