Los Angeles — In an attempt to expand its horizon, social media giant Facebook is becoming more user-friendly with Twitter as it tries to step up its game and defend against the growth of full-featured Google+, over the weekend announced that it now allow its users to update their Twitter accounts on their very own Facebook platform.
However, the line between these two apparently competitive social sites is about to get a little less blurry, as Facebook, the top social media outfit acknowledged the fact that most of its users could not live without their Twitter. Hence, this association would enable Facebook user account holders to update a linked Twitter account with every public update from a Facebook profile. To link the Twitter account, users just need to go to facebook.com/twitter.
Interestingly, the concept of updating Twitter feeds through Facebook is not new: Status updates that cross-publish between the two services, a move that is sure to thrill anyone who is both your Twitter friend and Facebook companion is already possible in the past. Users can use their Facebook page as an RSS feed and link it to third party feed-readers. Then these readers would publish updates to Twitter.
According to ZDNet’s Emil Protalinski, Facebook is allegedly about to unfurl Twitter updates on its general population of users, as indicated at within Facebook’s “Subscribe for Public Figures” guide on its Developer page.
“Yes, soon you will be able to update your Twitter account directly from Facebook,” reads one of the last question-and-answer prompts within the document. Facebook goes on to spell out exactly how the process will work:
“To get started:
- Go to facebook.com/twitter
- Link your profile or Page to your Twitter account
Once your account is linked, your Twitter account will be updated every time you post a public update to Facebook”
Facebook touts over 750 million active users. It is a lot bigger than Twitter, which has only 100 million active users. That is, there are many Facebook users who never or rarely user Twitter. Now that the Twitter function is integrated is becomes convenient on Facebook, it could entice some Facebook users to try Twitter for the first time.
The latest news likely is meant to coincide with F8, the Facebook Developer Conference, which will take place September 22 in San Francisco.