Is it a tweet or is it a status update?

After locking my BlackBerry away for the Christmas break and enjoying the consequent peace and quiet, I’ve decided that 2011 is the year we should start de-cluttering our digital lives, and filtering out the tons of useless information we’re bombarded with on a daily basis.

One of the best ways to begin is to learn how and when to use specific social networks to get the best out of them, and still save some time for yourself away from your intrusive technologies.

If you can manage to use your social networking accounts as they were intended and to your best advantage by posting only what’s appropriate for that medium, while following and encouraging others who do the same, then we can make these networks a much more useful place to spend our time.

So, when should you tweet and when should you do an FB update? Let’s start by defining the differences between the two.

Facebook vs Twitter

The main differences between the two social networks has to do with static and dynamic conversation and content, as well as interaction between different status levels.

Twitter brings people together because it is mainly interest based, while Facebook is built on social encounters.

The Facebook news feed has been designed for people to come online once or twice a day and find out what’s new with their friends and family on a similar status level. The status updates are an invitation to conversation, a way of maintaining social awareness among friends and acquaintances.

While Twitter started out similarly, it has morphed into something entirely different. Twitter today provides a way of creating identity in a public setting, while the differences in status between users is complicated.

Facebook updates are normally viewed as a user’s personal real-time diary i.e. how they’re feeling, what they’re doing etc. Tweets are similair but usually contain a dynamic piece of information — whether it be a question up for debate or a link to outside information. The reciprocal nature of Twitter is also different and it is easier for us to follow or drop people without any social pressure, as the contact is based on interest, not personal relationships.

Imagine the difference in how you communicate in different social settings. For example if you were to go to a wedding or other social gathering where lots of people know each other, the style and tone of communication there is a real-world equivalent of using Facebook.

On the other hand, if you went to a large party or open-mic event where you don’t know most of the people in attendance, you would use a very different style of communication, that operates more like Twitter.

When to use Facebook:

Posting personal updates, once or twice a day

Posting personal photos to share with friends and family

Sharing occasional links that you know your friends and family will find interesting

Organising personal events

Commenting and contributing to conversation and discussion

Keeping in touch with friends and family who live far away or abroad

When you need some personal downtime

If you are a business or an individual with a valuable service to offer, and can manage not to encroach on personal space

Becoming a fan of bands, people, magazines etc to keep up-to-date and informed, and stimulate your personal interest

When to use Twitter:

What you have to say can be reduced to 140 characters or less

Posting updates that are beneficial to the public at large, e.g. “Bad traffic accident on William Nichol, avoid if possible” — stay away from personal stuff

Posting useful links to articles or tools that add public value

Networking with other people in your industry or with whom you have something in common

Communicating with people who you don’t know personally, to gather advice and information

Following celebrities, authors, personalities, journalists if you enjoy their posts and find them stimulating and useful

Keeping up to date with news and events (it can work much like a Google Reader RSS feed)

Promoting your business or service, or your talents and creating public awareness of them (Keep your posts informative and useful, don’t spam).

Broadcasting the existence of interesting content on your blog or website

The key point here is to avoid always syndicating the exact same content to both feeds, especially considering that some of your network will be following you on both networks. They would want different information from you on different platforms.

I’ve mentioned before that it’s a good idea to separate out your career-related social networking from your personal posts, and Twitter and Facebook provide great tools for doing just this.

Save Facebook for your (real) friends and family, and use Twitter and LinkedIn for your career networking.