When it comes to Social Networking Services ("SNS"), I prefer Twitter to Facebook considerably. There are numerous reasons why I maintain that preference, including (but not limited to) the 140-character limitation. Quite simply, limiting yourself to 140-characters is a good exercise in keeping social networking where it belongs. While both outlets have reports linking their overuse to depression, I have found those reports are more valid on Facebook. Twitter seems more casual and considerably less personal. While Facebook has endangered many people's household harmony, Twitter has endangered just as many people's livelihoods (even Steve Martin had Twitter trouble last month). But it is hard to take things too personally when everyone is invited to interact with each other.
In fact, Twitter's best asset for me is that strangers still openly interact with each other. I have never seen evidence of that on Facebook, and it seemed as though MySpace.com lost its cool factor when 90% of the profiles switched to private. The Internet provides us with the rare opportunity to meet strangers through SNS than our personal schedules would never permit. I met one of my closest Internet friends in June 1999 through ICQ when she just randomly asked me why guys are such (jerks). Since then, I have enjoyed getting an outside perspective from anywhere in the world, even as far as Korea.
That said, my primary use of Twitter is limited to cheering the Montreal Canadiens. It is very unlikely to find fellow Habs fans in Arizona, except at their now-annual games against the Coyotes. Again, my Twitter involvement is largely limited to cheer a sports team. That self-imposed limitation prevents me from spending "too much" time there.
Conversely, Facebook is a different mess altogether. Because a vast number of people retreated from Facebook in 2012 (at least per my timeline), people overusing Facebook have become far more noticeable now. I cannot help feeling that people who have 50% of the updates in my most current timeline are the Kip Drordy's of the world. I had an overbearing slew of recent updates from my favorite married couple recently, but the overwhelming majority of those updates was their getting tagged by her sister (who lives in the Eastern timezone while the rest of the family is in Arizona).
My main point from this comparison is that I joined MySpace.com on July 1, 2005, so by large, our SNS participation is less than 10 years old. Can something better evolve from here or will we return to more basic methods? Younger users seem to flock to new SNS options the fastest, from Instagram to Snapchat. At some point, I have to imagine that too much will become too much. During 2009, my favorite means of online communication was a basic message board (forum). Likewise, I have noticed many people who frequently comment on news articles know each other socially but not personally.
It will be interesting to see whether SNS remain a big part of our shared existence in another 10 years or if it was a passing fad.
