Twitter more influential than Facebook

From Charlie Sheen Adonis DNA news bulletins to Eminem's live youtube invitation to fans, twitter is gaining major influence on the web.

Facebook may still be the largest social network in the world, but its application in the media cycle is far from the likes of twitter.

In fact, twitter has become such a mainstream tool for media agencies, that news is now regularly quoted from the site.

What is the big deal about 140 character messages? Speed. Delivery of timely news content from the actual source is the fastest way to go, and now that twitter has an army of celebrities, PR agencies, Chuck Norris fans and Justin Bieber lovers, their messages are instantly quotable and verified.

So why is Facebook losing this influence war in the media cycle? Privacy issues have made Facebook less secure, less open, and most of all, less quotable. The site has become over saturated with fake user accounts, spam emails, and fan pages that don't have the branding that speaks out to news agencies to quote them. Twitter is far more practical for news agencies, and most importantly, a majority of twitter users don't hide their tweets. Although Facebook still provides a great outlet for people to communicate with friends and family, it doesn't push the news cycle agenda, nor does it really need to.

In the period of near universal transparency on the web, privacy has become the 'enemy' of the free movement of information. Twitter is the source that keeps the news flowing.

Would you quote Lady Gaga's facebook fan page, or her personal twitter account?