Twitter and Facebook have Different Internet Marketing Uses

Twitter is an effective marketing tool in that it is good at grabbing people's attention, it has been suggested.

Bigmouthmedia's head of search Andrew Girdwood said it is almost like a firework in that it distracts web users for a certain period of time and then they return to their day-to-day business.  Facebook, on the other hand, tends to have more longevity and an enduring effect on its audience, potentially making it more valuable to marketers.

"People will happily follow a brand on Twitter because they to see what the brand is doing but that following is quite discreet, whereas with Facebook it is much more public," Mr Girdwood explained.  He added that in light of this, Facebook users tend to be more hesitant about sharing information than those on Twitter.

According to a post on The Wall, Facebook is the most effective social networking platform for brands to get their marketing messages across to consumers, say 80 per cent of companies.  Meanwhile, Twitter's "impersonalised web service" is considered effective by less than half (45 per cent) of brands questioned in the survey.