With so many social networks available, it’s very hard to pick just one. Some of your friends and family choose one, others choose a different one, and then maybe a couple picked another. You either get invites from them or they tell you about it and you feel obligated to create an account. I’ve been there, but refused to do it again when family and friends started in with their MySpace pages.

I was slow grabbing a Twitter account and started off with Pownce. I like the ability to share pictures, videos and music. I eventually signed up to Twitter and started using it. I can see the difference between Pownce and Twitter and don’t mind using them for two different things. I haven’t even once wanted to post to both with the same message. Why? The people who follow me on Twitter are different from the people who read my posts on Pownce. If anyone wanted to read what I have to say/share on either one, they would add me.

Everyone keeps comparing Pownce and Twitter, but really, they are two different services. One offers several features, the other offers mostly just 140 characters. In my opinion, Pownce is more like StumbleUpon than it is like Twitter in the sharing aspect of it (images, videos..). Twitter is like having a chatroom open and reading what people have to say with the occasional link to read more.

I’m not telling you to stop cross-posting to both Pownce and Twitter, but try to consider the people who are following you. Are they going to be interested in reading what you have to say on Pownce with an @reply to someone on Twitter? What about the people who follow you on both Twitter and Pownce? Do they want to read duplicate posts? How do they know which one they should reply to that will get a response back? It wastes time. You may be saving time by posting the same message to both, but you are wasting other people’s time. Also, think about the replies. People on Pownce won’t see any of the Twitter replies, and vice versa, so they may be missing the whole conversation.

If you used IM the same way, wouldn’t you be annoyed if someone sent the same message to you with all of their IM accounts at the same time? (Yahoo!, MSN, AIM, Google, etc.)

There may come a time when you want to hear what both Pownce and Twitter people have to say, because maybe you’re asking for help or for an opinion or getting an idea for a new blog post. But cross-posting to both all the time could become annoying to some.

Suggestions

• Pownce allows you to group your friends. Maybe you could create a group that wants to receive your Twitter posts on Pownce. This may or may not work depending on the client, if it allows you to select a group.
• Prefix your posts with Twitter/Pownce so if someone is interested, they can follow up on either.
• Use Twitter and Pownce as two separate services, as they were designed.

As I said, I’m not telling you to stop, but just keep your friends in mind the next time you cross-post. If anyone else has a suggestion or reason why Pownce and Twitter posts should (or shouldn’t) remain separate, please comment.