My Love For Facebook Is Decreasing. I'm Twit-ter-ing NOW

For sometimes now, everybody have been going the Tweetz, Twitz or Twitter way. First, it was Hi5 and later came Facebook. Now we have Twitter.. If you are not on Twitter, join me in knowin' more.....!!! Let me start by stating the major differences between Facebook and Twitter. Facebook is a great application for keeping in touch with friends, long-lost school mates and receiving info, pictures and other information about people you already know. If you have no desire to network with a number of people you've never met, then there is no reason to get a Twitter account.

Twitter is a micro-blogging, more like a social network meant to exchange information, entertainment or status/thought information with people outside of your immediate circle – that's it – however, there are some great advantages of being able to do that. If you are looking to network with people you don't know as opposed to primarily communicating with people you do know then Twitter is a great tool. I am not saying that networking is not possible on Facebook, it is however facilitated in a different manner.

FACT: If you find that you are constantly looking at your friend requests to see where you know someone from before you accept the friend add, then you possibly would not like Twitter. Yes, you won't like it..

The best analogy that I can give is that Facebook for me is like; working in an office – everything has to be "politically correct". Twitter is like hanging with good friends where pretty much anything goes and it's a relaxed, fun environment for getting and receiving "info-tainment."

As my friend-base on Facebook expands, [currently I'm around 1000+], I find that I can't say whatever is on mind because people are either not receptive, judgmental or easily offended. With Twitter, there are very few limits – its like hanging with great friends – you can "let your pants down" so-to-speak. One of my tweets this weekend said [ "At home alone, farting in my room. Air around is so smelly.. Cough-Cough."] I would never put that in my status on Facebook update due to some of the "P.C. dynamics" in my FB network. It was quite a fun topic over on Twitter though… Got silly comments from people I haven't met before..

FACT: The Twitter website and interface are HORRIBLE!! For a much better and more enjoyable Twitter experience download TweetDeck – it only takes 5-8 mins and revolutionizes the tool. If you are using an S60 Symbian Phone like the Nokia E & N series, You can download snaptu and S60 Tweets which are all free, but if you want to buy one, try Gravity.

I want to keep this note as short as possible, so I will end by bulleting a few advantages of Twitter: On Facebook most people use their "government name" which can limit your communication (if you're a school teacher you might not want to say "I've got a killer hangover" on a FB status update.) With Twitter you can comfortably communicate using an alias if you so choose.

- On Facebook if you comment on a friend's status you will receive notifications from everyone in that person's network if they respond to that same status after you. On Twitter if you respond to a friend's "tweet" you will only see their response or the response of other's you follow – not the responses of their entire network.
- To expand on the above point – if you are in a back and forth chat with a friend, the only people who see the communication in their account are you and that person and any mutual friends the two of you have. That communication does not go to your entire network if you are replying directly to them.
- On Twitter, entries are limited to 140 characters, it is designed for short bursts of information.
- On Twitter, you are encouraged to share your personality and sense of humor and expertise – many times you will find people from across the country or world that you have a lot in common with and actually can assist you in some way or become an excellent future connection/resource.

I could go much further, because there are many more positive points, but for those who have questions; I'm willing to give additional info because Twitter for me has been an incredible experience. I didn't like it at first, but it was more because I didn't understand how to use it.

Twitter is meant to be interactive and a free-form expression of how you feel about ANYTHING going on with you. I have received tons of laughs, great information from people I didn't know and I've met some incredible outside of those I already know. It is not like Facebook, totally different, used for different reasons, but people are expanding their sphere of influence, their business and personal network and having fun while doing it. Its more like a dating site these days from comments I've been receiving from friends. Who knows, you might find your love there... Lol.

I remember vividly, when Obama was in Ghana, I was sitting comfortably on my bed and twit-ter-ing [act of twittering from your phone or your laptop] as I see on the television set. The trending topics were, #ghana, #obama, #obamaghana, #panafest, #capecoast. My twitter friends, kwabena, abocco, panafest, ameyaw112, BBCAfrica, kobinasucks, konkrumah and ghanablogger all helped in bring more traffics to our blogs.

I will create a document for people who want to know tips and ways to make Twitter fun and informative. If you want the info send me a private message at this email and I'll be more than happy to send it thru.

Feel free to connect with me on Twitter.