SoCal-based artist Shayla Maddox crafts her own conclusion through a rapidly re-tweeted tweet:
"Twitter makes me like people I've never met and Facebook makes me hate people I know in real life."
(Thanks to Boris at The Next Web for pointing it out to us and for the amusing illustration inspired by Maddox's quote.)
Let's think about that. If you, like me, are picky about your FB friends and only allow those who have met you to FB friend you (my rule is that we've had to meet face to face or at least had a conversation, over the phone, preferably — with only a handful I made exceptions for because of mutual friends), then yes, perhaps all the constant updates and exposure to their idiosyncracies, their neuroses, their food porn, etc. might reveal a side of people that day after day, gets under your skin.
But hate? Hmmm. Strong sentiment, there. And what do you do, hide them from your news feed? Unfriend them? It's all so messy. But I have been tempted to sever a few ties just so I won't have to see them in that world, while I limit my exposure to them in the real world. But the devolution of my friendships don't start in FB, they start in 3-D and the bleedover into FB is what exacerbates an already challenging situation.
As for Twitter: this is acquaintance-ville for me. I don't know many of my followers, and that's ok. And I don't know a lot of those I follow, but I like what they tweet enough to pay attention. So that part of Maddox's quote, I totally get. There's a lot of info there, but they come in bite-sized chunks. Ignore the white noise and pick out the choice bits that make me pause, laugh and want to do something.
So what do you think of the Maddox quote? What's the difference between Facebook and Twitter to you?