Samer, is this you, OMG, is this really you, its been so long, you look the same, just a bit bigger, how are you, what are you up to, where you working, remember how we used to… omg if this is you let me know, i hope this is you.

This was a message i got from an old friend, we grew up together, went to school, then life happened, and lost track of each other, thanks to the magic of facebook, we reconnected. I am sure you all got a similar message on facebook, maybe not the same words, but that is the tone.

Of course my reply was equally enthusiastic, answered his questions, added some of my own, and off we went, for about 4 message exchanges. And that was it…. Its like bumping into a friend you have not seen forever while walking down Anytown, Main St. You have that quick excitement that fades fast, from happy memories of the past, to awkwardness as you both quickly realize you grew up and grew apart, your interests are no longer the same, all you share are memories. Here is the thing; facebook does a great job keeping you in touch with old friend, funny enough without really being in touch. I mean you can look at their pics, oh sally is in NY this week, Oh Joes new kid is cute, and of course John is….. but you dont really say anything, mostly looking, gossip on mute.

I have asked people the following question: How many new friends have you made on facebook since you started using it. A moment of silence, then… hmmm, not many, none i dont think. Yea none. Weird…There is also one harsh truth about friends on facebook, The majority of people who are friends on facebooks are ones that I would not want to meet in person and build a relationship, as a matter of fact most of the people i am “friends” with live in the very same city i live in, and neither I nor them make an effort to connect. I bet its the same for you, if not, call me out.

Now there is this weird thing called twitter, I dont know how i got on twitter, I dont remember who i followed first or why, I dont remember my first tweet, It took me a minute to figure out what a retweet is, and what a DM is. Worse yet, all i have is 140 characters to say what i have to say, there are tiny URL’s and twirl, twellow and twitpic, tiny twitter, omg, the list goes on and on, how can one wrap their head around this mess. Add to it a very unstable site and what you have is a usability nightmare.

But there is one thing i can say about twitter that is different from facebook, no one i follow or no one who follows me is from my past. All the people in my twitter circle are new, most i have never met, most i follow because i think they have something good to say, and i hope the feeling is mutual. Most I will never meet in person in my whole life. As we tweet, we share current experiences, shed some light into each others life, share knowledge, learn form each other, point each other to the coolest new thing. And while we tweet on our own, there is sharing and interaction that is quite different from the snooping that happens on facebook. On twitter I have learned so many new things and I can with great certainty say, i have not learned a thing from any of my friends on facebook.

For those who are part of my experience on twitter, i can say one thing, I look forward to any tweetups (get together’s) in my town. I would seek out, and attend these tweetups. I will look forward to putting a name to the face, sharing a beer, strengthening the relation, tweeting up again and again, i know this is true for many, if not most. What a difference from those who are my “friends” on facebook.

I think by now you know where this post is going, before i wrap up, i have this to say. I think Twitter and facebook got their lingo backwards. I think those who are followers on twitter have a more friendly relation that those who are friends on facebook. I therefore will make the following suggestion to facebook, please relabel the friends as followers. Twitter, please relabel the followers as friends.

In conclusion here is the punch line. Facebook is about the past, Twitter is about the future. They are not the same, and thank God for that.

@sforzley