People say that Facebook is for connecting with the people you went to school with and Twitter

is for people you wished you had gone to school with. While Facebook is a multi-purpose social
networking platform, allowing users to chat, post photos and notes, and play games, Twitter is
built around the posting of short 140 character messages, or tweets. They are the two most
popular social networks in the world. This comparison looks at their history, growth in user base,
strengths and weaknesses.

Comparison chart

Website

Facebook

Twitter

User Rating (565):

User Rating (423):

current rating is 3.78/5

current rating is 3.97/5

https://www.facebook.com
Facebook features include the, Friends,
Fans, Wall, News Feed, Fan Pages,
Groups, Apps, Live Chat, Likes, Photos,
Features
Videos, Text, Polls, Links, Status, Pokes,
Gifts, Games, Messaging, Classified
section, upload and download options and
others
Alexa Rank 2 (August 2014)
Facebook is a social networking service
launched in February 2004, owned and
Introduction
operated by Facebook, Inc. As of
(from
September 2013, Facebook has over one
Wikipedia)
billion active users, more than half of
whom use Facebook on a mobile device.
Registration Required
Key people Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO;

https://www.twitter.com
Tweet, Retweet, Direct Messaging,
Follow People & Trending Topics,
Links, Photos, Videos
11 (September 2013)
Twitter is an online social
networking service and
microblogging service that enables
its users to send and read text-based
messages of up to 140 characters,
known as "tweets".
Required
Jack Dorsey, Chairman; Evan

Advertising
Upload
photographs
Current status
Private
messages
Instant
messaging
Launch date
Type of site
Number of
users
Founded by
Post updates
Play games
Headquarters
location
Users express
approval of
content by
Share links

Facebook

Twitter

User Rating (565):

User Rating (423):

current rating is 3.78/5

current rating is 3.97/5

Dustin Moskovitz, Co-founder; Sheryl

Sandberg, COO; Matt Cohler, VP of
Product Management; Chris Hughes, Cofounder
Advertising supported in the form of
banner ads, referral marketing, casual
games

Williams, CEO; Biz Stone,

Creative Director
Advertising supported in the form
of promoted tweets

Yes

Yes

Active

Active

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

February 4, 2004
Social networking service

July 6, 2006
Social networking service

1.28 billion (monthly active, March 2014) Over 500 million

Mark Zuckerberg
Yes
Yes
Menlo Park, California, United States

Jack Dorsey
Yes
No
San Francisco, California, United
States

"Like", "Share", or "Comment"

"Retweet" or "Favorite"

Yes

Yes

Facebook

Twitter

User Rating (565):

User Rating (423):

current rating is 3.78/5

1

Contents: Facebook vs Twitter

1 History

current rating is 3.97/5

Languages Available in 70 languages

Number of
6,818 (as of March 2014)
employees
Reblog posts Yes
Follow
No
trending topics
Written in C++, PHP, D
Follow people Yes
Add friends Yes
Privacy settings Yes
Revenue
$7.87 billion (2013)
Current
$104 billion
estimated value
Post length Unlimited
Internet, Social Networking, Smartphone
Industry
App
Edit posts Yes
Users express
opinions about "Comment" or "Reply"
content by
Mention users
Just the name (e.g. "User")
by

Available in 29 languages
3,000 (as of 2014)
Yes
Yes
JavaScript, Ruby, Scala, Java
Yes
No
Either public or private
$664 million (2013)
$10 billion
140 characters
Internet
No
"Reply"
The @ sign and then the name (e.g.
"@user")

2 Uses

3 Privacy

4 Advertising

5 Integration

6 Financial History

7 Controversies

8 Recent News

9 References

Facebook vs Twitter connections

History

Facebook was launched by Mark Zuckerberg, along with his college roommates, in February
2005. It was initially only intended for Harvard students, but eventually expanded to include
students at other Boston colleges, Ivy League universities, and Stanford. The site gradually
added support for other universities, before also becoming available to high school students. In
September 2006, it became available to any users over 13. On May 17th 2012, the company went
public. It was valued at $104 billion. Facebooks user base is still growing rapidly. A chart
showing its growth can be found here: http://www.benphoster.com/facebook-user-growth-chart2004-2010/
Twitter was founded on March 21st 2006 by Jack Dorsey and was launched on July 5th 2006.
Twitter tends to be fairly secretive about its number of users, but it had explosive growth
between 2009 and 2011, with 2 million tweets a day in January 2009, 32 million tweets a day in
January 2010, 90 million tweets a day in September 2010 and 200 million tweets a day in July
2011.

Growth in worldwide user base for Twitter vs. Facebook. (numbers are in millions and include
bot accounts).

Uses
Facebook is used by members for a variety of purposes. It is mainly used by individuals who
wish to stay connected with, or reconnect with, people that they know offline. As well as
maintaining a personal profile and posting messages on their wall, users can upload photo
albums and videos, share links, write long notes, send private messages to friends, text and video
chat, and play games.
Twitter allows users to post 140 character messages, or tweets, and follow the messages of other
users on their Twitter feed. It is mainly used to communicate with other individuals with similar
interests, regardless of whether users know one another off Twitter, and to follow updates from

celebrities. Users can upload photos, share links and send private messages to people they
follow.
The video below compares the pros and cons of Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Privacy
Facebook allows users to select from various privacy settings, from a completely visible profile
to one that is not even searchable except by acknowledged friends. Users can change the privacy
setting on each individual post, from public, friends only, private, or custom.
Twitter has two privacy settings: public and private. Private messages can only be read by people
that are followed by the user. Individual messages cannot have different privacy settings.

Terms of Service for Twitter and Facebook, as rated by ToS;DR.

Advertising
Facebook features ads. These adverts are often catered to the user, based on the preferences
expressed in their profile. Facebook sells user info that has been uploaded to the profile to other
corporations.
Twitter does not feature ads. Twitter may sell user information to other corporations.

Integration
Twitter and Facebook can be integrated. Tweets can be posted to Facebook automatically using
the Twitter app.

Many other websites can be integrated with Facebook, including GoodReads and Wordpress.
Facebook can also be integrated into other websites, and Facebook login details can be used to
access some other sites.
Twitter widgets can be added to a website or blog and can be integrated with Instagram. Some
websites allow users to sign in using Twitter.

Financial History
Facebook received a $500,000 angel investment from Peter Thiel in 2004. In April 2005, Accel
Partners made a $12.7 million venture capital investment, after which Facebook was valued at
$98 million. Facebook also received $27.5 million in funding from various investors in 2006,
leading to a value of around $500 million. In 2007, Microsoft purchased a 1.6% share for $240
million, leading to a total implied value of $15 billion. Facebook is currently valued at $104
billion.
Twitter was originally developed by the podcasting company Odeo. It has raised over $155
million in venture capital since 2006. Its third round of funding, in February 2009, raised $35
million, while in October 2009 the private-equity firm Insight Venture Partners invested $100
million in the site. In 2011, Twitter was valued at around $10 billion.

Controversies
Facebook has been involved in several controversies, particularly involving privacy concerns.
Facebook prevented users from permanently deleting their accounts until 2010 and has been
criticized for changing users privacy settings, making more information publically visible or
available to data mining, without their explicit consent. The site has been repeatedly criticized
for removing photos uploaded by breastfeeding mothers and deleting their accounts.
The company Twitter has not been involved in any major controversies itself, but the site has
been the focus of several legal cases recently. In July 2012, a British teenager was arrested after
sending abusive tweets to Olympic diver Tom Daley, and earlier in 2012, a student was jailed for
inciting racial hatred after tweeting abuse at Fabrice Muamba.

Recent News
References

Twitter versus Facebook: Should you Choose One? - TwiTip

Wikipedia: Facebook

Wikipedia: Twitter

Wikipedia: History of Facebook

Twitter valued at $10bn as Google and Facebook reportedly vie to buy it - The Guardian

Where Twitter Ranks In Venture Funding History - The Wall Street Journal

Facebook Newsroom

TIL Twitter has a relatively-small number of employees - TECHi

Reaching 200 Million Accounts: Twitter's Explosive Growth - Mashable

Wikipedia: Criticism of Facebook

'No need' for new Twitter laws after abuse controversies - The Independent (UK)

Twitter
Advantages:

Easy to make new contacts and extend your social circle beyond your friends.

Simple, uncomplicated user interface.

Highly interactive. Allows you to communicate directly with your customers and address
their comments or concerns.

Posts, or tweets, enjoyed by your followers are often rebroadcast as re-tweets.

You can search all posts on Twitter for key words relevant to your business.

Twitter users are usually open to making connections with people they dont know.

Disadvantages:

Tweets are a moment in time, then lost in a users Twitter feed.

Can only post links to one photo at a time.

Limited to 140 characters for a post.

Smaller user base, although it is growing rapidly.

Direct messages can only be sent to one user at a time.

Cant post videos, but can add links to YouTube videos.

You are unsure of how much your tweets are being read.

Facebook
Advantages:

Photo albums and older posts remain on your wall long after initially made.

Can post multiple photos.

Not limited to 140 characters for status updates. Can be as wordy as you wish.

Some businesses are even using their Facebook Page as their blogging platform.

Large user base.

Can send a direct Facebook mail to all of your fans at once.

Can add videos to your page.

Facebook provides detailed insights on the users of your Page.

Disadvantages:

Difficult to attract new fans. Requires the fan to initiate contact.

Initial setup of a Facebook Page is more labor intensive, especially if you want it to be
successful.

Can be difficult to get fan interaction on your Pages. Feedback levels are commonly
found at 2% or less on any given post.

Although fans can share your posts, it doesnt occur as freely.

Cannot search Facebook users posts. In fact, users status updates are usually not visible
unless they are a friend.

Facebook users tend to be looking to make connections with people or groups they
already know.