Instagram and Twitter are two most popular social media platforms in the modern world. The key difference between Instagram and twitter is their role or function; Twitter is prominently a content sharing application whereas Instagram is a video and photo sharing application. There are many differences between these two based on their unique features and users. Let us take a closer look at both these platforms in this article and see what they have to offer.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Instagram
3. What is Twitter
4. Side by Side Comparison – Instagram vs Twitter
5. Summary
What is Instagram?
Instagram has been around for a few years and has gained popularity due to the new obsession with mobile photography. This is a social networking app specifically made for sharing photos and videos via your smartphone. Similar to twitter and Facebook, when you create an account you will get a profile and a news feed. When you post a video or a photo on Instagram, it will be visible on the profile. Another user who follows you will be able to see your posts. You will also be able to see posts from other Instagram users you choose to follow.
It is a simplified version of Facebook which works well for mobile devices for visual sharing. Just like a social network, you can interact with other Instagram users who follow you, comment, tag, like, or message in private. Instagram works on IOS and Android devices. It can also be accessed from your computer through the web. But users of Instagram can only upload videos and photos from your device.
Before you get access to using the application, you will need to create an Instagram account. You can sign up with your email or Facebook account. It will only require a username and a password. You will be asked if you would want to follow your Facebook friends. You can choose to do it, or skip to do it at a later time. You can customize your profile as you prefer. Adding information about yourself on the profile will you’re your followers to know more about you.
When the profile is created, it is set to public, and anyone can find and view your profile along with your photos and videos. When you set your profile as private, only selected followers can view your stuff. You can comment and like posts by double clicking on the content. You can also share content by clicking on an arrow. You can also find and follow friends and interesting accounts using the search tab and browse through tailor made posts for you.
Instagram also comes with filters to tweak and edit your photos and videos. There are up to 23 filters which can be used in your videos and photos. You can also edit your photos and add a selected cover frames to you videos as well. After you have applied your filters, you can add captions, tags and geographical locations and post it on Instagram and other social networks. Your followers can interact with you by viewing your posts in their feeds. Interacting with the post is easy, and you can like and comment at the bottom.
Figure 01: Screenshot of Instagram Login Page
What is Twitter?
Twitter and tweeting are broadcast of short messages to the world. It is somewhat equivalent to microblogging. Twitter is also a means of discovering interesting people online and following their messages. You are able to track hundreds of tweets and read them at a glance. This is ideal for an attention-deficit world.
Twitter limits messages purposeful to keep things scan-friendly. The tweet has to be limited to 140 characters. This size cap promotes clever usage of language and challenges you to write well. This size restriction has made twitter a very popular social tool.
Twitter works as a small receiver and a broadcaster. The twitter account is free. You can send broadcasts daily or hourly basis. You send type in a message within 140 characters. This will usually include a hyperlink. To receive tweets, you will have to follow to subscribe to an interesting person. You also have the option to unfollow if the person becomes uninteresting. You can also use a twitter reader to read your twitter feeds.
Tweets can be sent for a variety of reasons. But a growing minority of tweeter send content that is very useful. It provides a stream of updates that may be useful for a variety of people from friends to experts. This enables you to become an amateur journalist sharing interesting things found in your daily life.
You can learn about the world through another person’s eye through twitter. A constant stream of updates can reach your device wherever from the world. Twitter can also be used as a marketing tool, for advertising, recruiting and business consulting. Today internet savvy users prefer advertising that is fast, less intrusive, that could be turned on and off. Tweeting can become a good source of advertising if used properly.
Twitter is a combination of blogging, texting, and instant messaging and uses brief content to reach a wide audience. If you are a writer, twitter can become a useful channel. If you want to follow famous persons, twitter is ideal for you.
Figure 02: Twitter mobile login page
What is the difference between Instagram and Twitter?
Instagram vs Twitter |
|
| Instagram is a video and photo sharing application. | Twitter is prominently a content sharing application. |
| Users | |
| Instagram has more users. | Twitter has comparatively fewer users. |
| Edits | |
| Pictures and video can be edited. | Content can be edited. |
| Interaction | |
| Users can share pictures with the public or selected audience. | Users can follow and interact with celebrities. |
| Advertising | |
| Advertising can be done via photos, mostly paid. | Advertising can be fast paced and open. |
| Advantages | |
| This enables sharing photos with ease. | This is simple, quick and reliable. |
| Functionality | |
| This shares quality content within the app. | This can be used as a content distribution tool and this works in real time. |
| Ideal | |
| This is ideal to build a brand and push content. | This is ideal to interact with an audience. |
| As a Social Media App | |
| This is a focused social media app. | This is a noisy social media app. |
Summary – Instagram vs Twitter
Twitter and Instagram may serve similar audiences and demographics, but they are very different in functionality. Instagram is a great tool to share photos videos and push original content and build a brand. Twitter is the ideal tool to distribute content and engage with the audience. The main difference between Instagram and Twitter is the type of content.
Image Courtesy: Pixabay