Will Facebook’s “retweet” application clip Twitter’s wings?

Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} Yes, you heard right.   Facebook have finally released their versionof Twitters “retweet” tool.   This means Twitter no longer dominates the”retweet” in the social networking world. Called the “via” link, Facebook ’s latest application was launched without much fanfare on Friday night.  It looks like anybody will be able to make use of this new facility. So how does this app work? Go to a friend’s post item on your news feed.  Click on “share” a “via” and click on the friend’s name. Your profile will be updated with the news item and the “via” link will point to your friend’s profile. A viral loop, similar to Twitters “retweet” trail is created and your friends will see the same item on their News Feeds. This feature only works on posted links so you cannot via sombody else’s status or photo. You can also remove a via post if it is not wanted. Facebook reckons this new application will be big.  This is based on the fact that most of Twitters retweets are from links.  Aggregators like Tweetmeme track most retweeted Twitter news stories.  Developers expect aggregators to do the same with the new Facebook app and this will make Facebook more like Twitter. Social networker user profiles are broad .  Besides social users there is a growing number of people using Twitter and Facebook for internet training and marketing of high earning successful home based businesses . Facebook’s launch of the via app is a step nearer to their goal of making their site more relevant in the world of real-time information, news and searches.  Facebook developers have made no secret of their aim to make public more and more of what you post on Facebook. The jury is out on how well this will be received. How popular will the via app be with existing Facebook users? Will this app lure many Twitter users across to using Facebook more? Will Twitter user numbers be affected? Will Twitter come up with a feature to counteract Facebooks new app?  (I am sure the bright guys at Twitter will come up with an equally effective app.) Of course, nobody knows if “via” will clip the blue birdies wings. But one this is for sure, Facebook, Twitter and all social networking sites will be monitoring the new "via" application.  Social networking is here to stay, so watch this space. # # #

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