The Huffington Post reported these statistics on Twitter for 2010:
•Twitter now has 105,779,710 registered users.
•New users are signing up at the rate of 300,000 per day.
•180 million unique visitors come to the site every month.
•Twitter users are, in total, tweeting an average of 55 million tweets per day.
•Twitter’s search engine receives around 600 million search queries per day.
To view the original blog post (with more stats), click here: http://huff.to/huffington-twitter-stats
Here are some Facebook statistics taken from Facebook’s page:
•More than 500 million active users.
•50% of active users log onto Facebook in any given day.
•Average user has 130 friends.
•People spend more than 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook
Rachel went on to give smart tips about how authors can use Twitter and Facebook to promote their writing. My opinion? Easy to use, socially acceptable sites with hundreds of millions of users? Perfect places to network with readers and writers!
Obviously, I'm biased toward social media sites. I enjoy them. My main goal in blogging, Twitter, and Facebook is the same--to build relationships. I read and cherish every comment on my blog. When someone retweets my post or shouts my name out for Writer Wednesday or Follow Friday, I'm extremely grateful. I feel close to my friends when I read their Facebook status updates.
Twitter and Facebook have different atmospheres. You might feel more comfortable in one over the other, but give them both a try with the following in mind.
Facebook, for me, is like a family reunion. I learn about my friends' triumphs, their illnesses, the animals digging in their yard, how their workouts are going, and anything else going on in their lives. I sit and chat at the table with my first cousins and grandma (close friends), but that doesn't mean I ignore great aunt Sally or the third cousin walking up the drive (new friends).
Twitter is more like a relaxed party with my friends. We talk about writing, share virtual coffee and chocolate with each other, and discuss information. Since I love meeting new people, I regularly follow anyone who interests me on various hashtags such as #amwriting, #amrevising, and #writers. I also follow people who share similar interests, like my obsession with fluffy cats. The party isn't invitation only--we encourage new people to stop by. We'll throw a soda in your hand, shove a plate of brownies your way, and join you in conversation.
Bottom line: I enjoy the family reunion as much as I enjoy a relaxed party with my friends.
If you enjoy Facebook, Twitter, or both, do you think they have different atmospheres? Do you prefer one over the other?
Have a fantastic weekend!
