Twitter vs. Facebook: Understanding Social Media Usage in Latin America

Understanding the difference between Twitter and Facebook begins with looking at how each one is used. Though they are both thought of as community management tools, they are unique in their content, purpose, and audience. Understanding these differences can help you optimize your strategy in South America. Let´s begin!

Twitter´s International User Demographics:

Though people spend more time on Facebook, time spent on Twitter is growing. According to The Huffington Post, Twitter users may spend less time per session one Twitter, but they access the page more frequently, meaning that the sessions are shorter but more often at about 10 visits per month.

This may have to do with the 140 character limit, causing tweets content to be short and direct. Because of the limited space, this is a great format for news, tips, and gossip. Also great for people who are busy and do not have a lot of time to post lengthy blog posts. For this reason, tweeting is called ¨micro blogging¨ and works well for celebrities, industry experts, and brands. Users of Twitter are also more likely to access it from a mobile phone rather than a computer. It´s short content also makes responce time faster and many brands use this to provide quick customer service.

Internationally, Twitter is growing even faster. Usage in Latin America grew 305% from 2009 to 2010. As a Latin American digital marketing agency, RDS uses twitter to share news and technology for the emerging digital market in the region. Subscribe to out twitter feed for more information @redsyscorp.

Facebook Launched in Spanish:

In Latin America, Facebook users in Brazil grew 133% this year and it has become a leader in the region. Behind Brazil, other top users are Argentina, Colombia, and Peru. This may be because Facebook launched a Spanish version in February. Amazingly, all the translations on Facebook were made via crowd-sourcing — 1,500 users translated 40,000 sentences in under four weeks.

Unlike Twitter, users of Facebook spend longer time on their profile per session. This is likely due to the fact that Facebook is more social and intimate than Twitter. For example, while twitter is a great way to contact celebrities, Facebook contacts consists of only your inner circle of friends — people that you know personally. Because of its limited social reach, Facebook is not a good tool for news and networking. Instead, users spend more time sharing, commenting, and chatting. Unlike Twitter, users are likely to spend more time online because it is more often accessed from a computer. 

At RDS, we use our Facebook page to launch Facebook apps. A recent project included an interactive portfolio and eBook. To see more of our facebook applications and social media strategy, visit our Facebook page.