Feeding the Addiction

Caution: May be habit forming.

I saw a couple of things of interest today—between bouts of wrapping, of course. First, take a look at the comparison Digital Surgeons has created comparing the Twitter and Facebook demographics. There are some great specifics included about ages, incomes, and education levels, but I wanted more stats: time spent on each site, links followed, growth in followers/friends over time.

But while it’s clear that there are far more Facebook users, a higher percentage of Twitter members log in from their mobile device. More importantly, more than half of Twitter’s users update their status every day. This provides more evidence to the idea that Facebook users are a great deal more passive than Twitter users. It also validates the application I’m trying to build, but makes a mobile component much more critical.

Next, Path released a new version of its app which includes video. It’s a vital component of what we share, but I’m still not convinced that a finite number of people you are allowed to share your day with is the way to go. Obviously, that doesn’t keep me from using it, so if we’re really friends, share your Path with me.

The other thought-provoking piece I saw is from Mark Suster. He makes a number of great points, points I’ve heard myself making for years when defending Twitter to non-believers. The most important one, however, is looking to Twitter as a curated news source. Since you spend so much time finding trusted sources to follow, it’s obvious that the items those sources share will not only be interesting to you, but already vetted through their own experiential lens.

“Twitter is my curated RSS feed.”
Mark Suster, The Power of Twitter in Information Discovery

This is an unmatched way of getting new information, but I still think it lacks what most businesses and brands are desperate for: calls to action. At the risk of repeating myself, data is almost useless unless, and until, it is used to do something more with it.

I continue the creation of something to more easily bridge that gap, but not until I finish the Xmas wrapping. So, after the last piece of tape is in place, I’ll see you on the ‘morrow, on the Web.