Now you can push all of your Linkedin status updates to Twitter, and send all your Twitter posts to Linkedin. But the question is, should you? Linkedin is a business tool for solving business challenges. Linkedin suggests that you connect with people you know and trust. The Status Update feature was created to let you share with your direct connections what you are working on, what’s going on with your work, or something about your business that you want to share. It is a tool for providing your recent business updates to the business people you know and trust.
It may be relevant to update once a week–maybe even once a day– but not every time you Tweet, which could be an overwhelming number of updates all day. Just think how strange it would make you seem if you met someone in the hall at work or at the local coffee shop and you asked them what they were working on and they answered, “A penny saved is a penny earned!.” Or if you asked them a question like “What are you working on Judy? and Judy answered, “You’re welcome @JayJones! @tommeypinto, Just the best.” You would certainly think there was something wrong with these people. Yet this can be the effect created for Linkedin users when their trusted connections push every Twitter post to the business status update in Linkedin.
This is similar to the person that auto pushes info out to all their social media connections and tells me that they “know they are getting out there, but haven’t had much response.” The reply to that is “Do you talk to pictures on the wall or advertisements in public places? Of course not! If you are not present, why should they respond?” The same principle applies for Linkedin.
The correct use of Linkedin Status is for you to provide useful updates to share with your trusted business contacts. You would not walk into a business associate’s office and say, “Here are all my comments to people all day, out of context and thought,” dropping the packet on their desk and leaving. What would you think about a person who did that to you? That they don’t value your attention or time. Quality networking is not done through the rapid distribution and interruption of large numbers of people… we call that SPAM!
As someone who has been teaching people about Linkedin since 2006, I was concerned when they said you can send all your Twitter updates to Linkedin without a warning notice! The ability to selectively send Twitter updates (with thought) to your Linkedin profile, or the other way around, is a wonderful feature. Just stop and ask is this relevant for both communities. My concern is that good people with good intentions may not realize how they are annoying their own valuable circle of business people or just forcing them to find the “hide” button so they stop seeing anything they have to say. Remember Linkedin displays only a small number of updates unlike Twitter so if you just push all you Tweets over and have a lot it just dominates the field and would be like talking all the time at a meeting where everyone wants a turn to speak about that they are doing in their business.
Just to check this out, I posted a question in Linkedin asking people’s impressions of the auto push of Twitter posts to Linkedin for Linkedin users, and here is a sample of the responses: http://www.linkedin.com/answers/using-linkedIn/ULI/657379-548650 and here is a Poll I posted on Linkedin: http://polls.linkedin.com/p/87361/jwbsz
Martin Brossman on Twiter at http://www.twitter.com/martinbrossman
and Linkedin at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/martinbrossman
See an informal video I made on the topic:
How to Hide someone’s in the Status area if they don’t respond to you explain how their auto-pushing all Twitter to Linkedin fill up their feed.
I am especally honored that after mentioning this issues to Chris Brogan he wrote a blog post about it. See that post at:
http://www.toddrjordan.com/thebroadbrush/2010/05/diluting-linkedin-with-twitter/
Martin Brossman – Success Coach / Trainer / Author
www.ProNetworkingOnLine.com – (919) 847 4757
About Martin Brossman
Fully agree Martin, when I was in the mode of pushing all my Twitter updated to LinkedIn I received two kinds of feedback, the one where people said I was quite busy, the other however was clearly stating that people did not understand it. That made me realize that the two audiences are completely different. So I adjusted my strategy there, decoupling the twitter updates to LinkedIn and Facebook, now only sending updates that make sense for the other platforms and I can tell you feedback improved!
Hi Martin
Good point, but you can link the two up so that Linked IN only updates with your twitter status if you include the hashtag: #in
This means you can still update it manually and avoid the ‘chatter’ that the twitter audience are more accustomed to.
thanks
Katie
@VolumeGroup
Hi Martin,
I could not agree more! Don’t get me wrong – I enjoy twitter for many reasons – mostly B2B communications. But, let’s face it – for many people, twitter is a little vent for letting off steam, or a little vehicle that makes us feel like we are being heard, or it makes us feel like people care that we are at the dentist, or on a flight. OR an opportunity to let out the meteorologist in us (I had no idea that so many people want to give weather updates). Why does it seem like this type of tweeter is more inclined to link Twitter to LinkedIn? There are psychological reasons, I’m sure. You and I think this practice is wrong….but are these folks on to something?
Is there something to be said for all these little trite tweets? Do these mind-numbing pieces of data, cluttering up our screen help us keep these folks top of mind when/if we need their services?? Does it “humanize” them, making us develop an affinity for them, and make us want to work with them if given the chance? Or does it make them appear self-important and/or bored, like they have no “real” work to keep them busy? We’ve all seen consultants drop their tweets like a bad habit once they secure a gig.
What do you think?
Kathy Tito
I completely agree that Tweets are not LinkedIn friendly. Most of communications is knowing your audience, and I don’t need to see some intern’s chatter filling up my Updates*. LinkedIn status updates are more often Twitter friendly. Being able to choose to put messaging on either platform depending on the message, is nice and I do use that function.
*I even messaged someone to take off the function or I’d take them out of my network. Either they did, or they ditched me from theirs, but I’m good with the result.
Hi Martin,
I am so glad you brought this up! It is obviously a hot button for so many people on Linked In! The answers are great, and most in favor of disconnecting the update push from twitter to LinkedIn.
@Katie Colbourne – What you say is true, BUT people have to ADD that app via Facebook first. It was built as a selective Facebook update took (with #FB) and as far as I know it resides on a FB page for activation and set up. Without that app in place, putting #in on your tweets does nothing.
Hi Amy
apologies for my very long reply – you don’t need a facebook app to tie linked in and twitter together – you just need to alter your linked in settings to configure linked in updates with your twitter if that makes sense?
Facebook app deals with your facebook updates I presume – I was referencing twitter and linked IN only as I use my facebook for more personal updates rather than work related if that makes sense.
Thanks
Katie