Differences Between Blogs and Twitter

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For many Web-savvy people, confusing blogs with Twitter seems nearly impossible. However, if you're not on top of the latest trends online, it's easier than most people think to mix up the two. Blogs and Twitter do have some things in common, such as sharing information online. In fact, Twitter is a form of blogging -- microblogging, that is. Microblogging is a shorter form of blogging, but Twitter and blogs are still vastly different.

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Post Length

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One of the primary differences between a blog and a Twitter profile is the length of posts. Twitter posts, which are called "tweets," are limited to 140 characters. Blog posts have no character or length limit and depend entirely on the preference of the blogger. Blog posts can range from a couple of sentences to multiple pages, or even longer. One of the common uses of Twitter is including links to your blog posts in your tweets.

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Hosting

Twitter profiles are hosted on Twitter, meaning the profile information is on Twitter's server and the profile URL is an extension of Twitter's URL. For example, a Twitter profile has the URL "http://www.twitter.com/username." Blogs, on the other hand, have a lot more variety when it comes to hosting. You can use a blogging service to host your blog, such as Blogger, Tumblr, WordPress.com and Typepad. When you host your blog on a blogging service, you can use an extension URL like a Twitter profile or you can use your own URL. You can also self-host blogs, meaning they are on the server you purchased for your domain name or website.

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Format

In basic terms, blogs are fully customizable -- like websites -- and Twitter profiles are not. You can customize your profile to some degree on Twitter, changing background and colors, but not nearly on the same level as a blog. You can have as many pages as you like, different types of layouts, sidebars, menus, ads, banners and pretty much whatever you want on your blog. Your Twitter profile is restricted to your Tweets, followers and other information pertinent to Twitter.

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Profiles

Profiles on Twitter let you upload one photo, include your name and location, write a description of yourself in 89 characters or less and post one link to a website or blog. If you use a blog-hosting service, you usually have the ability to create an online profile that is fairly limited, but still includes more information than Twitter. If you have a self-hosted blog, you can create your own "About Me" page and include however much information you want.

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