Hacker News Reader

Comment by socalnate1 | Hacker News Reader

It always seems odd to me that Twitter and Facebook are directly compared to each other. At least in my experience (as a user of both), they are totally different services that fill totally different needs.

View on HN

Absolutely, I go on Facebook to keep in touch with people I know personally. I go on Twitter to get updates from people I don't know personally, like bands, celebrities, comedians, authors, etc. Two different audiences and purposes.

I've read articles (that I can't currently find) that talk about how different groups use Twitter very differently.

It's more likely to be the primary social network, meaning the way you stay in touch with your real-life friends, for people who are younger or more immersed in the African-American community.

Also, Facebook has been taking some very direct shots at Twitter lately in the arenas of public and real-time posting.

The article agues that while they serve different purposes, there is still only so much free time each person has in a day. Both, Twitter and Facebook, are in competition for this free time and from that perspective you can compare them directly.

I only have so much money, but Nabisco isn't competing with Intel for my cash except in a coarse, weird and not-very-useful sense. If Twitter and Facebook fulfill different social needs, then they aren't in competition for the same free time.

Yes and no. In this case you assume you have enough money to spend on both, but if you are on budget then if you buy expensive intel product then you have less money to spend on Nabisco and vise versa. In this situation instead of money it's time. Twitter and Facebook audiences intersect so they are directly competing for attention. Amount of ads you get exposed to depends on how long you spend on the site. The more time you spend on Facebook = less time you spend on Twitter = less ads Twitter can show you = Twitter make less money.

End of the day everything is competing for your time. So in a way facebook, snapchat, twitter, email, tv, radio, etc are all really competing to occupy whatever free time you have available when you are not sleeping. If the core joy provided by the service is of high enough value to a large enough number of users then that service will win.

Sure, but I don't read a lot of articles comparing Twitter to ESPN.

While they are different, for many people they are substitute goods: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substitute_good

How do?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com