Crossing of Social Media Streams (with Egon Spengler’s prospective)



Like a lot of people, I have my twitter account synced into my facebook page, so that whenever I update on twitter, my facebook page displays the same update. This has gotten me thinking about the purposes and audiences of facebook and twitter, and whether or not they are the mutual.

Twitter seems to have its own language.

Take this recent tweet:

@edscanlan RT @EJWalters: Great tweets from the streets of Afghanistan by @Katulis. Best election coverage (again) on Twitter. #afghanelection”

People viewing this as a facebook update only probably find the text strange. However, on twitter, the abbreviations used and the odd-looking link are common occurrences. Does this mean that the audience for twitter and facebook different? Or are they just using different language?

In terms of content, are there topics more appropriate for twitter, while other information is more appropriate for facebook? Which site is more useful for sharing links? Or, are they the same? Is one site considered more “professional” than the other?

On facebook, you have to add someone as a friend, and they have to accept your invitation for you to view their profile. Contrarily, twitter allows users to see each other’s updates without sending requests (unless privacy settings are changed by the user). What does this say about accessibility? Is it easier to network on twitter because of the difference in privacy standards?

From Wikipedia – Crossing the Streams
“There’s something very important I forgot to tell you. Don’t cross the streams… It would be bad… Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.”
—Egon Spengler on crossing proton streams

Crossing the streams was initially discouraged, as Egon believed that “total protonic reversal” would occur: this effect would have catastrophic results (see quote above). However, in a desperate effort to stop the powerful Gozer the Gozerian, Egon noted that the door to Gozer’s temple “swings both ways” and that by crossing the streams, they may be able to create enough force to close the door on Gozer and its control. As Peter points out, Egon said crossing the streams was “bad” but Egon says “there is definitely a very slim chance we’ll survive.” As the Ghostbusters cross the streams, the combination of that much nuclear energy closes the door to Gozer’s dimension and severs its ties to our world. The resulting blast destroys a good portion of the roof and blows up the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

Should you cross social screams and have twitter feed your facebook profile?

13 Responses to “Crossing of Social Media Streams (with Egon Spengler’s prospective)”

  1. Bob G says:

    I don’t have an answer for you but I think I’m going to watch Ghostbusters tonight.

  2. Ed says:

    Always a good watch!!

  3. Ryan Postel says:

    Ghostbusters provides that answers to life’s problems. I say keep those streams crossed. Let the rest of the world catch up.

  4. Scott Danielson says:

    I guess it depends on who follows you on Twitter vs. who follows you on Facebook. Are you tweeting for your friends, business associates, or both? Personally, I agree with Ryan. Crossing the streams helped New York, perhaps it can help your message as well.

  5. Scott Hogan says:

    I do the same. However it seems that responding to some friend’s twitter doesn’t always put it directly to Facebook. At least it didn’t before, could be doing that now.

    If I submit a twitter that is in twiterese (twitter language) I am conscious of it ending up on Facebook. So, normally I will try to update again soon after with something more in the terms of what I am doing at that moment, a funny observation or just lyrics from one of my favorite songs.

    Currently: With so much drama in the Chicago city, it’s kinda hard being S-C-O double T. (to the tune ‘Gin & Juice’)

  6. Roland says:

    I’m gonna have to agree with Bob. Also, I think we could use some proton packs around the office, just an idea.

  7. Tim C says:

    I believe there is no harm that can come from crossing such social streams, privacy issues are more common on Facebook because of settings, but for some reason Twitter users tend to not care about setting up more “facebook-esq” privacy, probably due to the fact that they don’t care who sees a “Tweet”, as supposed to an entire personnel profile. You gotta think of the Stay Puff man like Bill Murray did, embrace it;

    “Dr. Peter Venkman: We’ve been going about this all wrong. This Mr. Stay Puft’s okay! He’s a sailor, he’s in New York; we get this guy laid, we won’t have any trouble!”

  8. Brian B says:

    I wonder about this question all the time because, like Scott, I am conscious of the fact that when I post something to Twitter, it will update on Facebook too.

    So far, I have not found any problems with crossing media streams, but I would completely understand someone’s apprehension with regard to doing this.

  9. Chris Kramer says:

    I currently have my Twitter feeding my Facebook page, but I’ve considered severing the tie. Originally, I set it up because:

    I can update Twitter from my phone; and
    I can update Facebook from my Twitter; ergo,
    I can update Facebook from my phone.

    Now, maybe I could and always could have updated Facebook from my phone. I know I’ve sent “mobile uploads” to Facebook. But the method worked for me….

    Until I started using Twitter more regularly. Now my Facebook feed is a string of hash tags and @ replies. And occasional Facebook updates.

    And for some reason, my friends on Facebook have decided to follow my Twitter account, too.

    It’ll be interesting to see when Facebook rolls out automatic Twitter updating for profiles. They just started making it available to pages. With the FriendFeed acquisition, it’s inevitable. Just think of all the people who use Twitter to update Facebook and are missing out on those great ads.

    So, I’m going to uncross the streams. Twitter is a conversation vacuum; its conversations cannot survive outside of it.

  10. Jeff S says:

    I think that remains to be seen. As soon as we have an answer I think there is a good chance we’ll have yet another social networking new kid on the block whose language we’ll have to learn all over again.

    I also agree with Ryan – let the rest of the world catch up.

    “Back off, man. I’m a scientist.” — Dr. Peter Venkman

  11. Damon says:

    I’m all about efficiency I say cross-em

  12. claire scanlan says:

    I think posting your Twitter updates on Facebook is great press for Twitter. Many people who may be avid Facebookers aren’t familiar at all with Twitter and seeing that lingo creep into the Facebook world can intrigue people to learn more. I know when I first saw your status updates I wanted to explore the whole Twitter concept. Mayne not everyone will like Twitter (it’s hard to break away from the familiarity of facebook) but can’t hurt to open other people’s eyes to it – especially those people who aren’t as savvy in terms of Social Media. After all, Twitter is only as good as the people who are users. I’d say keep the updates on both … if people on Facebook don’t care to take advantage of it, they don’t have to.

  13. Sima Dahl says:

    As with many complicated questions, I think the answer is – sometimes. I use Tweetdeck so I can selectively post an update to both twitter and facebook – and I don’t do it often. I find it fascinating when a post goes viral in one medium but not the other, and underscores your point about different audiences, different purposes.

    Facebook friends not on twitter don’t appreciate twitter lingo in their stream, and I can see why… if you can’t decipher it, the post is just noise. As with any social networking site, the goal is not noise but rather conversation.

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