Poll by Parker Wayne & Kent finds 61% of LinkedIn users prefer the site without Twitter
A poll carried out by Parker Wayne & Kent Public Relations has found that more than three out of five LinkedIn users (61 per cent) preferred the LinkedIn site since the removal of Twitter updates from live streams in June. Of the 300 voters who participated in the poll on LinkedIn, just 11 per cent said the site had become ‘worse’ or ‘much worse’ since the removal of Twitter, with 28 per cent maintaining that their experience of the site remains unchanged by the split.
Younger users, often categorised as the hungriest for social media, were found by the poll to appreciate the split the most. Of those whose date-of-birth is logged with LinkedIn, users in the 18-36 year old bracket showed a significant tendency to say their experience has been improved.
Earlier this year the two networks did not renew the two and a half year partnership deal they had in place since 2009, with head of content products at Linked In, Ryan Roslansky, stating that the split stemmed from Twitters “evolving platform efforts”, suggesting a push in the efforts of the micro-blogging channel to win users back to its own site.
Product team director at Twitter, Michael Sippey, commented in a blog post the reason to remove Tweets from LinkedIn was based on Twitters new features, such as expandable Tweets, not being available on LinkedIn, adding: “[users] need to be able to see expanded Tweets and other features that make Twitter more engaging and easier to use. These are the features that make Twitter Twitter.”
The general sentiment uncovered by the poll is one of relief; participants said that having their LinkedIn feeds filled with Tweets became a nuisance, as those who used Twitter updated their profile more than those who updated LinkedIn. One user commented: “The Tweets on LinkedIn were akin to spam mail, rarely having anything to do with professional networking”. Another user added: “It is too bad that this feature was abused by so many”, whilst one referred to the Tweets on LinkedIn as “pointless rambling.”
Senior public relations professional at Parker Wayne & Kent, Richard Bell, concluded that for social media sites to collaborate successfully “there needs to be a way to filter what is relevant for the different sites and for the different users," explaining that users have different needs across the different social media “the time-poor business community wants focused content with a personality on LinkedIn; Facebook users want deeper personal information from people they’ve met; Twitter users want information, recommendations and short comment from strangers as well as friends.”