Twitter is very different from Facebook and Google+. Facebook and Google+ are basically social networks whereas, Twitter is much more than that it is an information network. This is a big distinction between Twitter and other social networking sites. A social network is a platform where people are connected by acquaintance whereas; an information network is one where people come together on the basis of their interests. A social network is on the first instance formed by geographical proximity. Obviously the two people who are friends on the social networking sites have shared a common interest that is why they are friends. But at some point of time they must have met face to face. Sometimes people do add people they do not know, but this happens very rarely. That is why it is called a Facebook request and not Facebook follow.

Information network is absolutely contrasted of this. It enables even those people to meet who have not met before. They can find each other on the basis of their common ideas and interests. They can then share ideas and interact. This is a very powerful approach. Connecting individuals who were previously unconnected and allow them to exchange ideas can trigger social change and prove to be very beneficial for the society. An average user of the internet will have very different social graphs on both these services. There will obviously be overlaps and people who meet on one service might go on to use the other type of service too. But the two services and the social graphs are not the same. The two services cannot be the same because both of them serve different uses. This difference is a major feature of both the services. The difference is the reason why people have accounts on both Facebook and Twitter.

People intend to achieve different uses by both the services. A social network is a great tool to keep up with your friends and relatives. You can share your photographs with them and update them about the latest happenings in your life. An information network is a tool by which you can track topics that interest you. The scope of an information network is much wider. Through a social network you can track and interrogate data and you can track people who know about things that you wish to know. Such a connection based on interest can last for time periods ranging from a few minutes to months and years.