Why Facebook is Better than Twitter:

The debate has raged on for years - some people are die-hard Facebookers, and others live for the Tweet.  Let me weigh in on the issue briefly - and I'll tell you why Facebook has the upper hand.

If you boil them both down to the core, they are essentially the same thing - a platform with which to broadcast yourself to your friends, family and followers.  It's a place to brag about yourself and your family, job, car and the family cat.  It's a place to ask questions and get advice of your cohorts.  It's a place to anonymously stock your friends.  The core virtues of both networks are the same.

When it comes to weaknesses, Twitter leads.  Some scream about the brevity of the 140-character limit and say that this stops people from blabbing on and on.  In reality, people get around this by sending out a series of tweets or by taking you to their blog or website where the blabbing is unrestrained.  (Also, most posts on Facebook are under 140 characters anyways).  
Twitter also doesn't allow pictures and videos to be posted to your feed directly, but rather as shortlinks.  We don't like the extra click, and not being able to see the picture immediately throws off the newsfeed browsing groove.  

On the other hand, Facebook is desperately trying to make revenue from their billion+ user base.  The ads are getting annoying.  My personal opinion is that Facebook is ramping up to offering a 'Facebook Premium' sometime in the future - a monthly or annual subscription that will allow you to use Facebook without the ads, for a price... (remember that you heard it from me first).  

I could extol the virtues and weaknesses of each all day long - let me instead offer a solution.  Combine the best of both worlds by making Facebook act like Twitter.  Think about it - most people that you follow on Twitter will broadcast the exact same message on Facebook, except that Facebook makes it more accessible - no extra clicks to see pictures or watch videos.  

TAILOR YOUR NEWSFEED!  Most people are either inept, lazy or unaware, but Facebook gives us a lot of freedom in the way that we use our newsfeed - so FIX IT!  Here are some ideas to get going:

• If there is someone that is constantly showing up with pictures of dinner, political commentary or sob stories of teenage romance - Take them off your newsfeed!  You don't have to deal with them - and they won't know, so don't worry about hurting their feelings.  Notice the small arrow in the upper-right hand corner of the post that appears on EVERY post once you've hovered over it.  Click on this and select the option to "Hide".  Once you've hidden the post, Facebook gives you more options.  You can choose to hide all future posts, or unfollow the person altogether.  Again - they will never know, so you can now enjoy your newsfeed in peace.

• You also have the option of never showing someone in the newsfeed, or subscribing to always show them.  Simply hovering over someone's name or profile picture will bring up their mini-profile box.  At the bottom-right, hover over the 'Friends' button.  Another list will come up, and you can select "Show in Newsfeed" or "settings" to choose exactly when you see them and how often.  

• I would strongly suggest that you find your true interests on Facebook and make them apart of your normal newsfeed habits.  If you're into politics, then find political pages and LIKE them (you must also hover over the LIKE button and select "Show in Newsfeed").  If you're into biking, do the same.  Fitness and body-building, Barack Obama, Fox News, Single Women, Religion, you name it and I promise that Facebook has pages for it.  LIKE these pages and turn your newsfeed into a live-action newsreel of the things that are most important in your life.  

So there are my tips for turning your Facebook into Twitter-on-steroids:

1. Remove, hide and unfollow the things and people that annoy you and waste space on your newsfeed.
2. Make sure to follow/ unfollow friends and adjust the frequency that they will show up.
3. Seek out your interests and supersize your newsfeed by LIKE-ing and following pages.  

More to follow on how to bring out the best of Facebook and Twitter.