Twitter + LinkedIn, Just Like PB & Choco?

Twitter and Linked In announced yesterday that they are integrating their platforms so that LinkedIn users can "amplify" their status updates to the Twittersphere, and Twitter users could feed their updates (hashtagged #in) into the professional networking site. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone apparently referred to the match as a "perfect combination," like "peanut butter and chocolate." Image courtesy of PC World.

Putting aside the clear confusion Mr. Stone has over what makes a perfect combination — he is clearly not familiar with the stunning combination of pretzels and ice cream, or Speculoos and bananas — let's stop for a moment to really talk about integration. It seems every social web service these days is working on some big-deal partnership with another social web service. Why? Theoretically, integration is for users, so that they don't have to visit more than one site, or post to multiple platforms, in order to spread their message with the largest number of people.

But despite what you may read in the companies' quirky blog posts, integration is not just for users, just like Kix is not just for kids. Integration is first and foremost for the company's benefit; joining forces makes them bigger, stronger, and broadens their reach, which ultimately means more revenue from business or premium memberships, and often from ad revenues. No one really knows the true benefits of this new deal, however, since the financial details (just like those of Microsoft and Google last month) are undisclosed, reports the NY Times.

Call me crazy, but this is starting to make me think of Wal-Mart, the ultimate one-stop shop. Because isn't that what web services are trying to do? Combine forces to offer consumers everything they want in one place, and make themselves more money while doing it? And we all know what that has done to us. Bye bye neighborhood butcher, hello pre-packaged salami — with a side of crayons.

But that may be a little too far ahead to think about on a Tuesday. In the short term, heed this warning from PC World: Twitter and LinkedIn are two different animals. If you integrate the two accounts, be sure to make smart choices about what you
share across the services — what's perfectly acceptable on one
network may not work on the other.

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