Now you can tweet from LinkedIn or update your LinkedIn status from Twitter. But should you?
Blake Bowyer
Media Program Analyst
Yesterday, the walls started to come down on one of social media’s last fortresses. LinkedIn, the social place for professional networking, introduced a new – and, to me, surprising – feature: Twitter integration. Starting yesterday (November 9), tweeps and LinkedIn denizens can publish status updates on both sites simultaneously with one click of the mouse (and 140 or fewer keystrokes). Hoooray! On the surface, this seems like a masterful coup for LinkedIn since regular updates on the site are few and far between. But, is it?
You say: “Twitter’s everywhere, why does this surprise you?” The move is unexpected because LinkedIn has historically resisted many of the temptations offered by other social networks. The site has added features and functionality at a glacial pace, moving slowly and steadily to maintain focus on its core users: professionals. There isn’t a lot of glitz, but the site’s user sign-up rate continues to creep upward even as other social networks begin to plateau. The site doesn’t have many bells and whistles, its plugins are utilitarian, and typically profile changes are made only once in a while.
A few past initiatives on LinkedIn have tried to combat this obstacle and encourage users to be more active. The forums have been a valuable gathering place for firms and professionals to get questions answered and chat about industry trends. In the past year, LinkedIn introduced status updates for user profiles to spur a bit more activity but not abandon its core of simplicity and focus. All of the added features and functionality have reinforced the site’s purpose as a haven for professionals wanting to be professional.
Though, apparently the relationships aren’t buzzing on this social network. The status updates feature hasn’t generated the activity LinkedIn anticipated and, as with most free (for basic users) platforms, revenue depends on advertising and advertising depends on visits. While its growth has been steady, traffic is still dwarfed by other social networks and the average time spent on the site lags even further behind.
Source: Alexa
Enter the social site’s partnership with Twitter. Despite sluggish growth in recent months, Twitter is still the talk of cyber town as users and companies try to extract value from the site. Though Twitter doesn’t have that new social media smell it did last year, there are still wide-eyed users joining each day to see what all the fuss is about. So, the site has one thing LinkedIn rarely has: buzz. As Twitter became an irresistible force for most social network activity and LinkedIn looks for ways to keep users on its site, the mote dried up and the castle walls came tumbling down.
And that’s what strikes me as odd. LinkedIn, once the focused, impenetrable presence of social networking – the suit and tie to Twitter and Facebook’s flip-flops – just let the most out-of-control, uncontrolled, and uncontrollable social platform into its courtyard. Of course, we’re only talking status updates, but are these two services compatible? Will redundant status updates drive users to LinkedIn and keep them there? Or turn Old Reliable into another channel for pointless Twitter chatter? Seems like a move that’s contrary to LinkedIn’s purpose and strategy.
One piece of advice we can take away from this partnership, though: be careful. Don’t ever check the box that says “Yes, share all tweets.” Because, if I may borrow a phrase from LinkedIn, relationships matter, and we might already be sick of your Twitter babble.
