Shrieking with excitement that the new iPhone OS will let me tweet my every move: this is some convenient $h1t. iPhone integration solidifies Twitter as an honest-to-God-not-going-anywhere-for-now Social Network, which is great because my most-loathed headline at the mo is “…the next [insert startup here]“.
So does this deal some sorta death blow to Facebook? Nope, IMO. Apple validating, elevating, anointing Twitter with iOS integration will not upset Facebook’s apple cart. Nor will it cause Twitter to become the universal login on Good Planet Earth. I’ll tell ya why.
1. The “world’s best known smartphone” is a small piece of the mobile OS pie.
A small marketshare decline for iOS is anticipated by 2015, according to IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.
Likelihood of killing Facebook/making the universe choose Twitter to log in to stuff: well, 18.2%.
2. Not that many people use Twitter.
Pew says 13% of online adults have the ability to log in to stuff via Twitter. That’s up from 8% in November—except there’s a 3.7% margin of error, so it may be, um, not really up from November.
On the other hand, about half of folks in North America have Facebook identities with which to log in to stuff.
Likelihood of killing Facebook/making the universe choose Twitter to log in to stuff: Most folks use Facebook, therefore most logins are likely to come from that identity.
3. The Twitter/Apple crowd is an elite group.
People using both services—people who gravitate to both brands—aren’t the mainstream, both judging by the numbers above and by anecdotal stereotype of Apple Fanboy / self-obsessed early adopting tweeter. And they tend, by their sheer l33tness, to repel the ‘average user’.
Likelihood of killing Facebook/making the universe choose Twitter to log in to stuff: my BBM-fanboy brother-in-law did ask if we were on Twitter last weekend, and if we tweeted about our meals. So maybe the tipping point is on the horizon.
All that said, I will be logging in to everything possible via Twitter (just like I always do).
Twitter is my professional identity, my keepin’ it clean identity, my “you can’t stalk my family very easily from here” identity. Twitter is the networking party. Facebook is the living room after-drinks (and possibly pizza).
There are different audiences & contexts associated with the two identities. I’ll log in to things that advance me professionally via Twitter. The two networks don’t compete, in my life at least: they coexist as the snazzy Mon-Fri wardrobe does with The Weekend jeans.
It may be a good thing to separate your social graph from your public identity. Twitter is like a fence between the tranquility of your yard and the action on the street below.
Using Twitter as short, sweet, abbreviated identity suits my privacy concerns. Facebook’s messier, more intimate environment makes it a place to protect, to keep off limits from brand intrusions and the workosphere.
I suspect many who tweet avidly (ie, are more than aware of marketing and relating to the public) crave a peaceful online space where they don’t have to push their latest blog post, influence has no meaning, and they can talk politics or kids or whatever stuff doesn’t fall under the purview of “curation” for their “audience”.
Sadly, those same avid tweeters’ll wanna know your Klout score increases by about 4 points if you link your Facebook account 
