The Tweets Are Coming — To LinkedIn

You know what’s missing from your social business profile on LinkedIn? Your tweet from yesterday, “Just remembered how much I like pickles.” Twitter and LinkedIn have anticipated your whim—today they’re announcing a partnership.

Okay, seriously, plenty of real business information is shared on Twitter. Depending on how you use the service, this really may be just what your profile needed—proof that you’re engaging with others in your industry, sharing helpful information, and have the know-how to do your job.

On the other hand, Twitter has also become an easy way to promote yourself—both in touting your abilities and giving yourself an actual promotion, to “guru.” Not everyone tweeting, and not everything said on Twitter, can be taken as evidence of expertise/guruosity/genius.

But don’t worry; if you’re tweeting so much to cover up the fact that you have nothing to say, you don’t have to add Twitter to LinkedIn. The New York Times reports:

LinkedIn’s 51 million members will now be able to send status updates — such as the fact that they are looking for an analyst on a certain topic, or posting a job opening — to Twitter on a case-by-case basis, and vice versa. People will also be able to add a section to their LinkedIn profile that contains their most recent tweets and view other people’s tweets when searching LinkedIn.

While this may get Twitter some more tweeting action and professional credibility, I think it’s probably an even smarter move for LinkedIn. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner “wants LinkedIn to be the hub for all professional conversation,” according to the Times—and this looks like just the way to do it.

But remember, if your Twitter profile has more about your cat than your clients, it may not be a good idea to include that in your professional profile.

What do you think? Is this a better deal for Twitter or LinkedIn? Will you use it?