Story by Annika Grassl
In today’s social-media-centered world, it is hard to avoid being bombarded with notifications from the most prominent social media sites.
Today, those social media sites are Facebook and Twitter.
“It seems only natural to me that over time, these two giant social networks would start to have more and more of the same features. They both started as very simple products and have added layers and layers of features on over the years,” said journalism professor Chris Snider.
“So when one feature works well on one network, there is a good chance it will work well on another. And the same goes for LinkedIn, Google+, SnapChat, YouTube and all the other social networks out there.”
First-year biochemistry, cell and molecular biology and neuroscience double major Sarah Martin agrees.
“(Facebook and Twitter) are alike and different. Twitter is more public and can speed thoughts faster,” Martin said.
Students are aware of their ability to influence change by sharing their thoughts and ideas on social media, which can then be picked up by large organizations.
These organizations are then able to reciprocate these ideas into a format that can act as a catalyst for social change.
“The real interesting thing to me is how Facebook is trying to become a more public platform, with hashtags as a good example of that,” Snider said.
“Facebook doesn’t want all of the public conversation around big events limited to Twitter, so they have to find a way to be a major player in that area.”
Both Snider and Martin agree that thoughts and ideas can be publicized and shared with the world in a user-friendly way.
“There are still a lot of differences between the two and in how we use and communicate on each one. Each one has distinct advantages over the other,” Snider said.
“And I think that will ensure that both of them stick around for years to come.”
Social media has become a critical factor in the way that we receive, interpret and interact with news.
Social media has changed how we look at the world and how the world looks at use because it is so easy today to post or tweet a comment that can be interpreted the wrong way, which can create conflict in the world.
The abundant use of social media has made it easier than ever for people to share their views on events and engage in discussions, which can lead to the formation of new ideas that can strengthen the communities that we live in and our relationships with the people around us.
First-year music education major Nate Moysten does not agree with Snider and Martin.
“They are not alike. Social media is still new, and older people probably view them the same,” Moysten said. “I think they have very different formats. The people who use these sites are different. Younger people are more likely to use Twitter than older people.”
Moysten’s comment shows how prevalent the age gap is in the use of these two social media sites.
According to Business Insider, 67 percent of people who use the Internet are currently connected to at least one social media site.
The article states that, “27 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds in the U.S. use Twitter, compared to only 16 percent of people in their thirties and forties.”
The article also states, “The 45- to 54-year-old age bracket has seen 45 percent growth (in the use of Facebook) since year-end 2012.”
Considering how connected everyone is to their social media sites, it shouldn’t be that big of a surprise that there are many differing points surround the use of sites like Facebook and Twitter.
