What Do Rappers Have Against Facebook?
Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Every Monday (or thereabouts) that isn't a national holiday, Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture.
This Week's Panel: Z-Ro, Slim Thug, hasHBrown, Kirko Bangz, Jack Freeman, Killa Kyleon, Cory Mo, C-Stone, Chuckway, Kyle Hubbard and more.
Photo illustration by John Seaborn Gray
Not Invited: Mark Zuckerberg. Or MySpace Tom, for that matter.
This Week's Prompt: Rappers, like everyone else, seem mostly gaga for Twitter. They appear to spend a lot of time on there. Why wasn't/isn't that same enthusiasm elicited by Facebook? Sure, most rappers have Facebook pages, but they're never near as active or interesting as on their Twitter feeds. What gives?
C-Stone: I think because of the speed of updates. Input and output is way faster on Twitter. But I prefer Facebook still.
Jack Freeman*: Because people are naturally lazy and a complete profile to keep track of is just too much for some people. Twitter, with all the new technology with apps, is just more convenient to keep tabs on. Facebook people have to update with pics, statuses, etc... just too much for some folks.
*Jack Freeman is an R&B singer, not a rapper. But still, the guy needs to be getting his name written more times than it has been; for cripes sakes, Dark Liquor was one of the best independent music projects in the city last year. Pay attention to him.
Chuckway: Twitter is the shit.
Killa Kyleon: Because Facebook [is] too personal. It's nothing but MySpace vol. 2. 
Thurogood Wordsmith: I think the reason Twitter is popular is because it was adopted by celebrities, artists, promoters, etc... I recently read that the fastest growing demographic for FB is women aged 55 and over and that speaks volumes to Facebook's dominance. If your mom is on Twitter, you probably have issues.
Bottom line: Twitter is less personal but more direct. And that is the reason artists prefer to communicate through Twitter.
Slim Thug: To me, Twitter is easier and people respond faster on here.
Le$: Probably because they can't get all their Facebook friends to spam and act like they have a buzz.
John Dew: From a technical perspective, since I can sync my Facebook, Twitter and world-renowned-but-rarely-used MySpace together, I don't have to go overkill on FB. I just post to Twitter, let it shrink the link, and presto, instant promotion. But honestly, I prefer to use Facebook for fan interaction. Twitter is the hot thing.
Kirko Bangz: Facebook made me [laughs].
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