Relationship Symmetry in Social Networks: Why Facebook will go Fully Asymmetric

Recent events have made it clear that Facebook sees Twitter as a serious threat to its business. First, Facebook tried to buy Twitter for $500,000,000 in stock. Twitter declined. Facebook then began describing their service in increasingly-twitter like ways, such as during the Inauguration when they showed a “live stream” of chatter alongside CNN news. And on March 11 Facebook redesigned their homepage (the logged-in homepage) to a layout remarkably similar to Twitter. As Twitter’s growth continues to accelerate, it is obvious that Facebook is trying to block Twitter from catching up.