UPDATE: The new Facebook homepage is rolling out now. Have a look for yourself and decide if it’s a Twitter killer!
Facebook is trying to kill Twitter. At least, that’s what its latest stunt looks like. Facebook just announced it’ll be launching a new home page next week, and we can’t help but feel the changes are thinly disguised stab at Twitter’s service. Find out how, and why, Facebook is trying to kill off Twitter after the jump!
In case you missed it, there are three major new features in Facebook’s latest home page rolling out next week: a real time Facebook stream so you see friends’ updates immediately, filters to set who you see and who you ignore, and an altered status bar, now called the publisher, which will let you publish your status, links, photos and videos quickly and easily.
Hang on though: that sounds exactly like Twitter to us. Or any number of Twitter clients to be precise (the Twitter web interface itself is a bit lacking), which integrate services to shorten web addresses and upload files online. What is Facebook playing at?
On paper, Facebook ought not to be scared of Twitter: Facebook has more than 175 million users worldwide, Twitter has only 6 million. And Facebook’s more comprehensive APIs mean it offers many more plugins and services. But look a little deeper and it’s clear that Twitter has Facebook scared silly.
Twitter has been reaching critical mass recently – with coups like first reports of plane crashes and celebrity endorsements galore, Twitter has finally reached the point where major events are tweeted, no matter where they happen, or what they are.
But Facebook is about friends, sharing photos and not breaking news – why so scared? Because slowly, people are starting to realise Twitter is more than a new way to network, it’s a new way to search. Twitter launched the Summize search engine because it’s starting to see searching through people’s 140 character babblings as the ultimate marketing tool, a way to chart trends and even fine-tune advertising.
Like Google discovered before it, search means money, and Facebook, more than anything, needs money. The more people join, the more data it grabs. The more they post pictures and video, the more its servers groan, and the more money is drained. Most people were shocked at the amount Microsoft paid for Facebook stocks in 2007, and it’s clear the shares will fall, and fall fast, unless Facebook finds a viable business model soon.
How can we be sure? Before really trying to compete, Facebook in fact tried to buy Twitter last year, although the negotiations were unsuccessful. With a larger base of users, Facebook has the opportunity to capitalise on Twitter’s niche, and thanks to its web-based interface, can slap ads and marketing around it to make it pay. Now all it needs to do with its new home page is persuade people to jump ship.
What do you reckon? Can Facebook replace or incorporate what Twitter does? Would you use the new Facebook home page instead of Twitter? give us your two cents in the comments below!
