Facebook, by Evan Gerber
Chances are Facebook is not going to buy Twitter. It has tried before, and it's rumored that Facebook will try again. It is understandable why it might, given Twitter's explosive growth, its target audience, and the platform's current poster-child status for social media. On the other hand, does it really make sense for one highly valuated but not profitable company to purchase another similar, if smaller one?
And, at any rate, what would stop Facebook -- with about 25 times the funding, and 20 times the user base -- from just mimicking the functionality and incorporating it with the rest of its suite of offerings? Nothing. That is exactly what Facebook's recent homepage update was intended to do -- introduce a more "stream of consciousness" approach to the social networking site. The fact of the matter is that Twitter looks good given the demographic traits of the user audience, their behaviors, and the additional functionality that might provide Facebook with additional features.
Let's face it -- even in the face of this epic recession, Twitter is looking pretty good. Currently, Twitter's growth is surging, with more than 600 percent growth in the last year alone. Six million users are sending 140-character tweets to friends, and the core user base is described as very dedicated. According to the Pew Research Center, these users are "young, mobile, and new-media savvy" -- the kinds of users who will be on the cutting edge of new media interactions as the web becomes increasingly mobile. Pew predicts that in another few years, tweeting will be adopted by a larger audience, in much the same way that SMS messaging has been used. So Twitter seems to be engaging the vanguard of mobile web users, and it makes sense that Facebook would want a piece of the action as its user demographic steadily ages.
But why not just build out the same functionality? Facebook's status message, accessible through its robust mobile client, can do almost the same thing. A key difference, however, is the privacy model, which is a basic aspect of either site's information design, and as such, very hard to change. Facebook users must ask permission to share information, whereas a Twitter follower, once they have a #username, can begin reading feeds without reciprocating. This means that users are not obligated to follow everyone who is following them, which in turn leads to popular users being able to broadcast information much more effectively through key thought leaders.
By purchasing Twitter, but not integrating the service more than it already is through Facebook Connect, Facebook would have access to a medium that is much more open. And as Twitter teeters at the tipping point, it could provide a medium that disseminates messaging -- such as targeted advertising -- much more quickly, while remaining effective.
Were Facebook to acquire Twitter, there are a number of interesting features that Facebook could leverage to create a more ubiquitous experience. For example, why not leverage Facebook Connect to allow users to Twitter from the pages they are on? The relative simplicity of a tweet -- versus the much more complex interface of Facebook -- would make it very easy for users to share information and opinions on site content. Or, on the other side, by enabling users to text to their Facebook status messages, ala Twitter, it would streamline the Facebook mobile experience. Another interesting hybrid feature would be to let users associate tweets with images, enabling users to caption their day-to-day findings quickly and easily.
At the end of the day, it's safe to say that any discussion regarding Facebook purchasing Twitter is conjecture, and it's unlikely that it will move past that. Bigger companies with real money, versus stock, will pony up at the table, and the Twitter leadership team will recognize this. But Twitter would provide value to Facebook through access to emerging technologies, a simplified interface, an open privacy model, and the possibility of new user interactions and features.
Evan Gerber is a principal user experience consultant at Molecular. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/evangerber.
