This week, the Social Media channels are all . . . well . . . aTwitter about the new integration alliance between Twitter and LinkedIn. In a nutshell, it’s now possible to feature your Tweets on your LinkedIn profile, as well as on your regular Twitter stream. (This all sounds so ridiculous until you spend some time on Twitter – here’s a link to the first installment in the Twitter 101 series, if you need it). LinkedIn Co-founder Reid Hoffman and Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone conclude that their sites go together like chocolate and peanut butter. Take a look (worth it just to study these two billionaires in the making): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVZ7VA4zORE
When I first heard about this partnership, my immediate reaction was negative. To be successful on LinkedIn, your profile needs to be personable and approachable, but highly professional and businesslike. To be successful with a business Twitter profile, your tweets need to be personable, approachable, professional, and businesslike, too, but with a twist of humor and a splash of personality. And . . . moxy. Yes, with Twitter you definitely need some moxy thrown in. Which explains my initial negative reaction, because while I’m comfortable sharing certain personal details of my life with my Twitter followers, I know to keep my LinkedIn profile a bit more conservative. This Tweet most definitely doesn’t belong on my LinkedIn profile, for example, but provides a personality glimpse that is helpful for success on Twitter:
However, I should have known that the crew at LinkedIn was way ahead of me on this concern, as they’ve made it possible to pick and choose which tweets you’d like to display on your LinkedIn profile. Brilliant, as usual. Here’s a quick tutorial on how to set it up – it should take you less than 60 seconds:
1. Log into your LinkedIn account, and your Twitter account.
2. View your LinkedIn profile, and click on “Add Twitter Account.”
3. Allow LinkedIn to connect to your Twitter account.
4.THIS IS THE MOST CRITICAL STEP:When it asks if you’d like to “Share your tweets in your LinkedIn status?” make sure to choose the second option – “Only tweets that contain #in.”
And that’s it! All you have to do is remember to put what has already been coined the "Twitter #in" at the end of the tweets you'd like to include on your LinkedIn profile (#in - see example above). They will display like this:
And will appear here:
In other words, highly visible by those you know, and available for viewing by those you hope to know, so it’s very important to strategically edit your Twitter #ins. Think of it in this way: It’s kind of like the difference between going to a “be on your best behavior” interview dinner (LinkedIn) and attending the upcoming HCI Innovator Awards cocktail party (Twitter). Both still professional settings, but one with a bit more moxy (and fun food and beverages, so be sure to sign up!)
