Given that Twitter users are also Facebook users, could this be the start of a move away from Facebook?

Facebook still has a vast lead in terms of unique users and continues to grow rapidly. But look back to over a year ago and the same was being said of MySpace, the previous leader.

It’s clear that, despite high engagement, loyalty is fragile in the social networking space.

Nevertheless, I don’t think Twitter will disrupt Facebook’s position, as they both fulfil different social functions.

Facebook is about personal identity, a place where friends can share photographs and videos and keep in touch with each other’s lives.

Twitter is more of a micro-blogging tool and virtual water cooler.

Not that Facebook isn’t responding dramatically. Despite last year’s failed takeover of Twitter, Facebook is continuing to pursue aggressive growth, and the new real-time format that it’s launching right now has more than a whiff of Twitter-style functionality about it.

Finally it’s worth noting that the continual adoption of new social tools can’t go on indefinitely. I currently manage a range of online social tools for various aspects of my life, and while they all have their uses it’s getting close to the limit for me. It’s getting to the point where I’d have to ditch one to adopt another.