So we’re watching X Factor on timeslip, which is great because we can skip the adverts. Meanwhile, on Twitter, I’m seeing tweets about contestants who have already appeared on the show in real time… but are yet to appear on our delayed version.

This is a great illustration of the sheer immediacy of Twitter. I’ve heard the difference between Twitter and Facebook explained thus…

Facebook: “I’ve had a pee.”
Twitter: “I need to pee.”

I take this to mean that on Facebook people tend to tell you what happened and how they feel about it, whereas with Twitter they are more likely to tell you what is happening, now.

Luckily, from an online marketing perspective, this difference can be quite useful, because the difference itself does tend to polarise the audiences.

The Twitter audience will love to know what your business is up to right now, at this moment. That’s classic Twitter audience fodder. Establishing a new service today? Tweet it. Going in to a big client meeting? Tweet it.

On the other hand, the Facebook friends will usually be checking in later in the day, and this is your chance to tell them how you came up with your new service and what the success of that meeting will mean… and how you feel about it!

Or you can just blend everything onto all your social networks, like most people do. Less discerning maybe but a whole lot easier.