Is Twitter vs Plurk a repeat of Myspace vs Facebook?

Dan Thornton | June 25, 2008

It’s easy to compare the current and growing rivalry between Twitter and Plurk to the rivalry experienced by Myspace and Facebook. And with Facebook recently becoming the biggest social network in the world, could Plurk pull the same trick with microblogging?

Well, for starters there are some slight differences in the two rivalries. Although Myspace became the biggest player in social networking, it didn’t have the first player status Twitter has – that honour belonged to the infamous and yet still running Friendster.

Twitter and Myspace do both fall foul of the fact that user customisation sometimes leads to profiles looking like a car crash, but as Twitter tweaking is more limited, it’s escaped the worst excesses. And while Plurk takes a more stylish route, perhaps in the spirit of Facebook, it’s far more overwhelming, with the horizontal timeline, Karma and cartoon icons.

But the biggest difference between Facebook, Myspace , and even Plurk at this stage from Twitter, is that Twitter is powered by mainly third party applications and integrations. It may be the reason the database is unreliable at the moment, but around 90% of queries come from external applications – not direct via the website. There’s just some of the many, many Twitter tools listed here. It isn’t like Facebook or Myspace, which uses applications as a way to add interaction and entertainment to the network. In this case, the applications can be the only entry to the network for many people.

And yet it’s this that makes me think Twitter will remain the leader in microblogging for a while yet, and is a way from peaking. There’s a limit to how many networks people will join, but Twitter apps can increasingly use the technology for their own devices, and can start to utilise Twitter within other websites. For instance, Chirrup uses Twitter to power blog and website comments.

Imagine more companies using Twitter to converse internally, now that more and more people have grown used to Instant Messaging and Facebook. And more public users of Twitter applications, and aggregators like FriendFeed.

I don’t want to overhype Twitter, despite my addiction (@badgergravling). There’s still a need for social networks, forums, Instant Messaging, email, telephones and even snail mail for different functions. I wouldn’t have started a blog about microblogging otherwise! But just as it’s now a rare event for me to use the postal service, and my email influx has waned, microblogging means IM and social networks are replaced by semi-instantaneous Twittering…

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  • Use Multiple Social Networking Tools To Expand Your Brand Exposure

    The success / failure of any social networking tool depends on both its qualities (ease of use, usefulness, integration tools, etc.) as well as the buzz it is able to generate among Internet users.

    Some tools like MySpace, even though they are functionally less appealing then their competitors (Facebook), continue to survive because they have reached a critical mass of users who find it difficult to "defect" to another platform. Humans by nature are resistant to change, especially when there is a potentially negative social stigma associated with doing so.

    Some users are savvy enough to realize that different platforms also cater to different demographics and maintain a presence on more than one, to capture the widest possible audience for their business or personal brand. Depending on how serious you are about building your brand, users should participate in any network that broadens their reach.

    Using tools like www.ping.fm , RSS feeds and each networks own integration tools/APIs, is a smart way to minimize the amount of time it takes to keep all your networks updated/fresh. If you treat it as a branding/marketing activity and not your "life" it takes relatively little time.

    As Internet-connected cell phones like the iPhone, Blackberry an GPhone continue to proliferate, the number of "always on" social networkers will continue to climb rapidly. Those who want to take advantage of this phenomenon would be wise to not dismiss any social network, new or established, that has active members that you want to reach with your brand.
  • I liked the comments in this post and found myself nodding along sagely.

    Yes, I'm registered on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, I think I may even be on Plurk.

    I find Plurk idiotic. I'm bored with Myspace and facebook - but I keep coming back to Twitter. I've clocked nearly 3000 updates since September 2007.

    I think that plurk, MySpace and Facebook are still a bit labour intensive - and I'm sick of all the spam and rubbish that goes along with it. I'm a 40 year old lawyer with three teenagers and a 7 year old. I don't want vampire bites, sheep thrown at me or be told I rank third with "prettiest eyes".

    Twitter is still very simple to use. Wait until Phreadz goes public. You hit a button and record your speech and video. Dead easy - and it threads your conversation.... and it's full of people who are grown ups in the test version.

    There's a place for blogging, but it needs to be:

    1. Simple to use
    2. FOC (free of crap)

    Easy.
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