5 Reasons Facebook Lite Won't Hurt Twitter

1. Different Populations. Despite the overlap we now see between our networks on Twitter and Facebook, the popular microblog was a channel for a very specific group of friends. Whether they be tech heads, ad junkies, or simply early adopters, Twitter has emerged as the place to sync up with X niche focused people whether you know them personally or not. This culture (and the type of conversation) has continued to grow. Although Facebook has updated itself as a tool to mirror Twitter, the people you're connected to remain the same. Will you therefore want to have the same style conversations with that group of individuals?

2. Asymmetrical relationships. Twitter established itself early on as a place where you could connect with people you DON'T know. While Facebook is moving in this direction with fan pages, the core audience of users has essentially grown up with building a network out of our actual "real" friends. Additionally, this psychology places Twitter into a higher bracket of credibility when it comes to information gathering. On Facebook we're all equal because we see updates from people who also see ours. On Twitter, a person with 10x more followers than friends is assumed to be smarter or more resourceful.

3. On the Go. While the Facebook iPhone application is absolutely stunning, let's take it out of the equation. Twitter updates and feeds can be much more easily digested on a vast arsenal of phones. Facebook has not had the benefits of this kind of mobile usage and thus has been branded as a web based destination not a mobile one. Although a slew of apps will most certainly come out now to support Facebook Lite, the Pavlovian behavior of updating your status when something interesting happens from the street has been established with Twitter.

4. Speaking of Apps. There are literally hundreds of applications built for Twitter. This creativity came from the fact that Twitter was extremely simple. Facebook conversley, went from very complex, to now relatively simple. Most of the interesting features coming from 3rd party Twitter apps for Twitter, can be done for Facebook Lite via Facebook regular. This potentially means that developers won't want to focus their creativity on Facebook lite and rather keep creating the innovative new tools for Twitter (thus driving more attention to the microblog with positive press).

5. Conditioning. Remember back in the 70's when Japanese cars revolutionized the product and how it was produced? When U.S. automakers started matching their Asian counterparts in quality and build (and they really did) did you see a massive migration back to domestic vehicles? The sentiment and buying decisions seem to favor the Japanese still. Twitter has made some tweaks since its inception but the essential function of the tool has remained the same. I've now lost count of how many times Facebook has drastically altered the structure of its home page. Let's just say it's 5 though. That's 5 times now that long time users have had to readjust their social networking habits to fit the model that Mark Zuckerberg thinks is best at the time. It's no secret, but humans don't like change. Where Twitter is a steady upward trending line with subtle increases in function over time, Facebook's life line looks more like the stock market. 

I'm sure there are bits and pieces of the story I need to investigate further that will strenghten or weaken my arguments. Would love your input.

Silence in the Echo Chamber

Ironically, the topic of this blog post is something that has already been spoken of. It's the "echo chamber," the most common reference to the idea that much of the thoughts on the web are redundant or derivative. I find myself posting much less lately because I often will find fresh content that mirrors the ideas that I was planning on writing about. In effort to reduce the echo, I thought about what "walls" were being created that have stifled original content for myself and others:

The Walls

RSS Feeds: Those actively engaged with RSS feeds get a great deal of information (even in snack form) thrown at them. The topics in those feeds get our brains working, but it's often about the work or thoughts of other people. While there's great value in this kind of analysis, when brainstorming I suggest ignoring your feeds.

Livestreams/Microblogs: On Twitter today I posted the following: "Know how when you were a kid you'd invent things that already existed? To you, they were new? Happens a lot with thoughts now on Twitter." This proved true when three people replied to me saying that had just had that "epiphany" today as well. In terms of being a "wall" Twitter is still a mixed bag for me. It does two things, having it open forces me to think of creative questions and points, but it also leads me to read the same of others. Unless you can ignore your tweet stream and focus only on the "What are you doing?" box, I'd say close this up as well.

Lazy Reconfiguration: An author once told, there are 6 great stories out there when it comes to fiction books. They have all been written, new books are the same stories with new people, settings, and technology. The optimist in me doesn't want to believe that statement, but assuming it's somewhat true, it means that creative configuration of content is vital. It means telling the same story from a different perspective and adding your own analysis and critiques. (But also making sure your analysis/critiques aren't clones of other respondents)

Conferences and Mixers: Choose your live events carefully. Unless you are a speaker sharing knowledge, ask yourself a few questions. Is this conference going to bring something new to the table? Are the people here going to be different from the last one I went to? Am I going to act as a filter for the speaker and send out someone else's thoughts into the stream (conference tweeting) or am I going to listen to a unique perspective and then collect my thoughts and offer my own?

The above walls are not without value. They serve the purpose of SHARING content with those that can't access it or find it. But don't get confused and think that sharing content is the same as CREATING content. In the digital space, your audience is composed largely of people who do know where to get this information so instead of showing them the same film twice, write the sequel, do the remake, or add the directors commentary. 

What are your strategies for avoiding and not contributing to the echo chamber?