If you want the most up-to-date source of what is happening at a given moment, Twitter wins over Facebook. Virtually everyone uses their computer to post on Facebook. The 140 character nature of tweets makes it easy to post them from cell phones. Twitter has more "immediacy" than Facebook. Also, it's very easy to post audio and video from your cell phone on Twitter. It's more complicated on Facebook. Thus, to stay updated with the latest, Twitter is the place to be.
A number of Twitter applications can help you quickly find your social media soul mates quickly. The Facebook process allows you to build through your network, but Twitter allows you to tap into anyone within the Twitter network and ask to follow them. Most people will follow you back if you follow them.
For example, assume you're interested in scuba diving. Sites such as monitter allow you to type in what you want to follow on their site. You don't even need a Twitter account. Monitter then displays all the tweets (messages posted on Twitter) in real time. Another site called NearbyTweets allows you to quickly locate people who are using Twitter in your local area. You can also use a site called Twellow to locate people who are from a specific profession.
In terms of the conversation, Twitter can be a little disjointed. Unlike Facebook where comments in a specific thread are aggregated in a single place, tweets appear in real time. This makes following the conversation on Twitter more difficult. The Instant Messaging or chat functions on Facebook make it easier to use for online conversations.
The real issue, however, is not which platform is best, but how you use it. If you are using either of these platforms to post traditional marketing messages, you are actually hurting your business. Instead, social media means being social--engaging in conversations with others about that which is outside of your business. In fact, Julie Escobar had the best one line description for how the social media work for real estate professionals:
"Make a friend now, make a sale later."
The platform is not as important as getting involved.Take the time to be involved in the conversation, to have fun, and most importantly, to help others. These are the ways to gain social capital on any social media site. More importantly, when you give to others, they will give back to you.
Posted by Bernice Ross, If you liked this column, visit our site at RealEstateCoach.com for our free newsletter plus over 200 pages of resources to help you build your real estate business.