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4 Ways Twitter Is Beating Facebook: Page 2 of 2

2. Embedded Content

Twitter first launched embedded tweets in May 2010 as a way for publishers to call out a particular tweet that redirects to the original message on Twitter.com when clicked. In January, the microblog announced an update to embedded tweets that display photos, videos, article summaries and other content shared in a tweet as you'd see it on Twitter.com.

It wasn't until last month that Facebook finally launched the same capability in a move that experts said was long overdue. Its launch included the same features that Twitter added earlier this year, and is still rolling out to users.

For Facebook, embedded posts represent another opportunity for it to increase its visibility in the media, appeal to people who might not use the social network and encourage users to share conversations publicly. Facebook users, however, are more private than Twitter users, which could pose problems in helping this feature take off.

3. Television

Facebook made a push to enter the television world Monday, announcing it launched two new tools to help media companies analyze public Facebook posts and integrate them into online and broadcast content.

But the social network has some catching up to do: Twitter pioneered social television, launching a similar capability more than two years ago. Since then, Twitter has dominated the space, with shows often broadcasting tweets in real-time in an effort to make programming more interactive.

Facebook's post length, which is capped at 5,000 characters compared to Twitter's 140 characters, does not lend itself as well to television, but its Keyword Insights API -- which aggregates the number of posts that mention a specific term within a set period of time and can parse by age, gender or location -- could provide valuable insights on current events that networks could incorporate in broadcasts.

4. Trending Topics

Twitter has highlighted the most popular trending topics in real time since 2008, most recently introducing Trends in more than 160 new locations.

Just last month, Facebook users reported that the social network was experimenting with its own version of trending topics. The social network confirmed the test, saying the feature was only available to a small percentage of U.S. users and is still in the early stages of development. Facebook's user base, more than 1.15 billion strong, has potential to overtake Twitter's dominance in this space as the new go-to site to see what people are talking about.