Ask the Capitalist: Can I Connect LinkedIn and Twitter to Reduce My Need To Post Twice?
November 06, 2012
Smart people try to look for hacks that automate work. For example, if you're trying to create a relevant social content stream as a candidate, manager or recruiter, it make sense to answer the following question:
"Kris:
I do updates to build my professional brand on both Twitter and LinkedIn. I don't mind doing this, but since the updates are pretty much the same, it would be great if I could update one and it automatically updated the other. For example, is it possible to set it up so if I post to Twitter it automatically shows up on my LinkedIn account as an update?"
-Christine
Hi Christine -
I like the way you're thinking. You're experimenting with the social tools and are looking for ways to be everywhere without taking the time to be everywhere. Well played. The answer is.... maybe. In June of 2012, Twitter announced an end to their partnership that allowed users to sync updates from the two sites. According to Twitter, the site is increasingly focused on "proving the core Twitter consumption experience through a consistent set of products and tools." This essentially means that LinkedIn users can no longer automatically sync their tweets to publish on LinkedIn.
Boo. That sucked. It was all Twitter's fault, not LinkedIn's.
Users like you are now be forced to post their LinkedIn updates separately. Or, how LinkedIn positions it, "Simply compose your update, check the box with the Twitter icon, and click 'Share.' This will automatically push your update to both your LinkedIn connections and your Twitter followers just as you’ve been able to do previously."
Basically, users can post from LinkedIn and have that message go out to its Twitter following, but not vice versa.
So no automatic API exists, so doing the manual dance above is one way to deal with it.
The other way? Use a 3rd party tool like Buffer or HootSuite that allows you to link all your social accounts to the same account, then do an update and select all the social accounts that you want that update to appear on. This type of system allows you to control your digital life, do one update and blast it out, and even time when you want it to show on each social account. It's a better way to deal with it. The picture to the right of this post is a screenshot from Buffer, where I'm sharing a cool HR website via a social update, then sharing it across twitter and LinkedIn at the same time.
No direct API from twitter to LinkedIn? Just another example of the man trying to hold us down. Buffer doesn't care. Kind of like the Honey Badger.
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