Once upon a time three giants, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, were invited to a party. Because giants tend to take up a lot of space, they are naturally at odds with one another on the World Wide Web’s social media gathering.
You’ve heard the term “elbow room” before. These giants are accused of jostling for place while in line for the social media party, their enormous elbows knocking over innocent bystanders. Lying flat on their backs were LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram, strong contenders for front-line passes.
Did you happen to see Tumblr, Vine, and Snapchat make a dive for the door? The party hasn’t even started, and it’s already a madhouse for those scrambling to make themselves known.
Worse still, party followers are arguing about who’s hipper: who’s the best-read, the best-dressed, and the best-selling. The question is clear for each of us who realize that we have to make an appearance at the grand social media affair.
Which party should you attend?
Facebook continues to be the place for friends in the real world to share, Twitter is where you reach out and find others of similar interests, while Google+ boasts a collaborative environment of engagement.
Wait, there’s more. Know how to party with the three social media giants (and what to wear) to avoid utter disaster.
The Dish on Google
As Mashable’s article “Sorry, Google, We Still Won’t Come to Your Party,” scathingly points out, Google seems hell bound on getting users to sign up and engage. Their latest is forcing YouTube comments to be fodder for Google+. Not exactly a party-friendly invite.
The good news, however, is there’s no place like home in Google. Once there, your options are better than any other platform. From your Google headquarters, you’ve got Google +, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs, YouTube, Google Maps. Google Play, News, Calendar, and much more.
According to a Forbes article on social media trends for 2014, Google+ “has the second highest number of monthly users” (second to guess who, Facebook). It also reminds us of the ever-looming SEO fact: You either Google+ and rank, or you don’t.
It sounds like an invite you would be crazy to turn down. Dress code lines up with business casual, unless you’re just there to crash.
Facebook Party Faux Pas
Facebook continues to dominate the party with over a billion party goers, but its charm has its limits. Vaguebooking, an Urban Dictionary Word of the Day, is one of the many Facebook annoyances you must contend with when you enter the party’s fray.
Vaguebooking is a status update that’s intentionally vague and designed to elicit a response. In other words, let’s all have a pity party, folks.
Other top Facebook pet peeves include political rants (my personal top peeve), publicizing private moments, and the vanity post, a.k.a. “the selfie.” If you want to be TMI’d to death, Facebook is your party.
A dress code doesn’t exist, as far as I can tell.
Time is Short But Sweet on Twitter
The brevity of Twitter, combined with the capacity to integrate images into your Tweets, makes for a quick and smooth flight through party central. With the aid of Hootsuite or Tweetdeck, your Twitter soiree will be even less complicated.
You can add anyone you choose to follow, tweet to whomever you wish, and read Tweets from lists of favorites. The memorable Tweet, “Twitter makes me like people I’ve never met and Facebook makes me hate people I know in real life,” seems harsh. But it’s hard to argue the truth.
Dress code is what’s trending, same as the fast-paced, timely Tweets.
So Where’s the Party, Really?
The recent Pew Research survey on the top social media sites for 2013 shows that “73% of online adults now use a social networking site of some kind.” The top five in order are Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram.
Google+ wasn’t included in the survey. It must be due to another harsh truth. Google+ is not simply coming to the party. Perhaps it is the party.