LinkedIn.com in my opinion is the most vital Web 2.0 social network for business networking today. With over 39 million registered users, applications that stream blog content right to your profile, the most robust internal search engine of any social network, and the ability find prominent difference makers in the business world, LinkedIn provides great value. Yet with all of their expertise, killer content, strategy filled blog, and continued excellence one thing puzzles me: Linkedin’s twitter strategy for their account @Linkedin .
Relationships Matter
On LinkedIn’s About Us page the following statement describes Linkedin’s Mission:
“Our mission is to connect the world’s professionals to accelerate their success. We believe that in a global connected economy, your success as a professional and your competitiveness as a company depends upon faster access to insight and resources you can trust”
One of the leading mantras “LinkedIn makes professional connections visible” does not seem to hold true in the Twitterverse.
No Follow Strategy
One of the most powerful methods to connect with your audience, especially if you have a awesome brand like Linkedin, is to follow everyone who follows you. By following your followers, companies open up DM aka direct messages and help to recognize their followers by giving them a voice. Here is a screenshot of @Linkedin’s Twitter Strategy: 
6,943 followers yet Linkedin only follows back 7 people. Who are those lucky 7 they follow? They are all major cogs in Linkedin from CEO to bloggers.
Ironic but Understandable?
Although the goal behind this Twitter account is not engagement, it is difficult for a company that makes it’s very fortune on connecting individuals and companies, to not see the irony in this Twitter strategy.
Conclusion
If Linkedin supports multiple Twitter accounts which communicate and engage directly with their audience then why did they not chose to use the most powerful name brand, @Linkedin, for just such a purpose?
4 Comments
Join the conversation and post a comment.
Don’t quote me, but my understanding is @LinkedIn on Twitter is a fake. Rather, @kluo is an actual employee and she monitors the twitterstream, as Jillian York blogged about the other day: http://jilliancyork.com/2009/04/19/linkedin-doing-the-right-thing/
It depends if LinkedIn want a Twitter strategy or just a presence.
Their main raison d’etre is to be connectors of business people. This happens on their site. If they wished, they could just use their Twitter account as an RSS feed teaser to let readers know benefits and conversations, etc, with LinkedIn membership.
I agree that Twitter is great conversation point, but perhaps in this case the conversation is already happening elsewhere?
Danny,
Thanks for presenting your thoughts. I do appreciate the idea that LinkedIn’s strategy may be merely to aim their audience back to their site.
It just seems so ironic to me that they support relationships, visibility, and connectivity at home yet not support that type of engagement on another social site.
Ari,
That is news that I never considered. The @LinkedIn looks very realistic and I assumed, maybe incorrectly, that it was manned by 7 of the companies stalwarts and brain trust.
Great article link to Jillian’s story. This is another example of LinkedIn getting it right-well done Ari!