Facebook vs. Twitter: Students weigh in on their preferred social media

Lindsey Davis/Staff Writer

This day and age, it’s not uncommon to check up on multiple social media sites.

Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and recently G+, just to name a few. However, the most commonly used and buzzed about are Facebook and Twitter.

Many CF students have accounts on both sites, but here they weigh in on which one is superior.

“I like Twitter because there aren’t annoying people on it,” junior Jacob Newton said.

Many people are in agreement. Facebook has become notorious for young people posting statuses such as “Like and I’ll tell you something I love about you,” or the popular “Truth is.”

On Twitter, you will hardly ever see things like this clogging up your newsfeed.

“There is less drama, and it’s more interesting,” junior Alaina Kittrell said about Twitter.

It is not uncommon to see someone comment on another person’s Facebook status or photo with backlash.

A while back, an NU student posted a status about soccer, and a student from a neighboring school commented with harsh posts.

Many followed suit, and it quickly became a war between the schools over this one status.

Soon after, this debacle resulted in the jumping of an innocent NU student by members of the other school.

Sadly, this is just one incident of cyber bullying that often happens on Facebook.

Another difference between the two sites is that Facebook makes following others mutual; Twitter does not.

“[On Twitter] just because someone follows you, doesn’t mean you have to follow them back,” junior Brayden Longnecker said.

On Facebook, those who want to view another profile have to accept them as a friend.

With Twitter, this is not necessarily the case. If people want to view the Tweets of others, all they have to do is click Follow.

They are able to view the profiles immediately, but the people they are following don’t have to follow them back if they could care less about what they have to say.

Another interesting aspect is that Twitter allows people to follow celebrities rather than just their own social circle.

Many people choose to follow their favorite musicians, politicians or journalists.

Celebrities often post links that you wouldn’t otherwise find yourself.

A well-known lover of Twitter at Cedar Falls High School is psychology teacher Charles Blair-Broeker.

He comments that Twitter is useful for breaking news.

When he heard news that Osama was killed, Blair-Broeker wanted to find out more details.

“I went onto news sites like CNN, and they didn’t have anything.

So on a whim I went to Twitter, typed in Osama, and immediately there was information on there,” he said.

Facebook and Twitter have also recently served as a news source for the death of Steve Jobs.

Many people found out about Steve Jobs’ death through the statuses of others, not the news.

Blair-Broeker’s students are encouraged to get Twitter accounts for class.

Blair-Broeker said that it is “quick, efficient and easy to get reminders out.”

Twitter appealed more to Blair-Broeker than facebook, which he was never wild about.

Now, students can search #appsych and find loads of tweets from other students across the globe.

On the other side, some people prefer Facebook over Twitter.

“It’s easier to creep,” junior Dallas Deery said.With pictures uploaded constantly, it’s easy to sit at one’s computer for hours, clicking through whole picture albums.

On Twitter, one doesn’t get this luxury.

Pictures seem to be the only reason Facebook is preferred over Twitter.

At Cedar Falls High School, Twitter seems to be outweighting Facebook.

This is not necessarily true for other schools or regions, but no matter what site one would rather use, people are going to know what one is up to.