Social media is gradually gaining more importance in our lives, and although it seems like it has more drawbacks than benefits, research has shown that social media actually help shy people feel less timid. Facebook and Twitter are both popular amongst teens, so it isn’t really surprising that the question “Facebook or Twitter?” comes up frequently. On one hand, with Facebook, you can add friends and have unlimited text length. However, with Twitter, you can follow trending topics, keep your messages short and sweet, and have advertising within these tweets. Both have clear advantages and disadvantages.

Facebook is a popular way to connect online with friends and share what you’re up to. It allows you to hear about real life events that you would otherwise miss. On Facebook, people can connect with others who share the same hobbies and interests. The results of a survey taken on 1,200 teens and young adults showed that the more time they spent on social media, the more empathy they showed in real life.    

Facebook isn’t completely beneficial though. For example, privacy is hard to maintain. Even if you choose to share something with a couple of friends, they could show it to even more of their friends and it could spiral out of control. This captures your worst moments that you definitely don’t want posted online. Also, it’s hard to restrict your time on Facebook. A quick check to see what your relatives and friends are up to could turn into hours of endlessly scrolling through pages of videos, pictures, and posts. Facebook can also lower your self-esteem. A study done in 2012 that was published in the journal “Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking” showed that the more time people spent on Facebook each week, the more likely they were to say that others had a better life than them.

On the other hand, Twitter is a great way to share what you’re up to in less than 140 characters. With Twitter, you can easily find out important news, both national and world-wide. A poll done by the Associated Press and CNBC showed that 44% of Twitter users find out breaking news on Twitter some of the time, and 16% use it often. Also, on Twitter you can follow topics and discuss them with other people all over the world. When events are shown on TV, people can discuss, share their excitement, and criticize what is happening.

However, when important events air on televisions, and different time zones affect when people see them, it gets chaotic. Spoilers are everywhere and frustrated people have to turn away from their devices in order to watch in peace. By the time they’ve finished watching and are all worked up about how amazing it was, or how puzzled they were at the show, no one’s discussing it anymore. This creates a sense of being left out, and as time goes on, people can get more and more insecure.

Both Facebook and Twitter have their pros and cons, but really which one is better? It all depends on what you need to utilize the site for. If you want to post multiple pictures and have a lengthy description, Facebook is the one you should use. If you’re just looking for a way to update the world with what you’re doing in a short and timely manner, then Twitter is the one for you. Overall, it just depends on what you want to get out of it.