Linkedin + Twitter: nice!..perhaps.

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LinkedIn recently did a pretty slick integration with Twitter... its one of the smartest things they've done in a while.

I'm a great example of the kind of user that LinkedIn and possibly Twitter were hoping for. It has me more engaged with my LinkedIn connections and I even had a few people on LinkedIn reach out to me that hadn't in ages because of something I'd tweeted. The integration seems to working to get more LinkedIn users engaged with the site even when they're not looking for a business connection.

I think that's the risk of the integration as well though. To grow in terms of users and page views, LinkedIn has added a lot (their app platform, this integration etc.) More than most social networking sites, LinkedIn has to lot to lose because of noise, but I can see why the product team there had no choice to move in this direction.

Back in the good old days, LinkedIn was where you had professional contacts (the pitch was Resume 2.0) and Facebook was where you connected with friends. That barrier seems to have broken down, and with it the online distinction between a professional and social front. Twitter is a great example of a tool that serves both purposes as well.

It'll be interesting to see how LinkedIn chooses to evolve given this dynamic.

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