Why Twitter LinkedIn Face-Off Will Redefine Social Media Dynamics

Ever since Twitter and LinkedIn parted ways June 29, the social mediascape has been witnessing several changes that seemed to have caught users unawares.

Though the end of the partnership was nothing new in the social network landscape as search giant Google moved away from the microblogging sweetheart recently, leaving Twitter to spruce up its search function to stay on track, the changes did call for LinkedIn having to redefine its strategy and operations.

The changes effected between Twitter and LinkedIn come as a clamp down on developers who use Twitter's Application Programming Interface (API). Twitter's relationship with developers became strained as the social networking website tried to move towards a heavily monetized model. The move follows Twitter's strategy to alienate itself from third-party developers who helped make the platform grow.

In a report published in Fortune, the CNNMoney portal states how money was part of the reason that orchestrated the split as Twitter lost a big chunk of eyeballs to LinkedIn. This happened when developers from LinkedIn tapped into Twitter's API and transferred tweets to their platform.

Though Twitter had attained considerable growth with an open API, it appeared to challenge the future of the platform as users were moving away from the site. This necessitated Twitter to make a decision that will retain users in its own site and help them savor branded applications that can be made profitable through indirect ad sales.

However, the recent development has not gone down well with developers who feel it is time to move away from the microblogging media and start an alternative. It also appears to mark the end of Twitter as an open platform.

User reaction to the split appears to be mixed while some feel that it is a welcome change that saves a professional site like LinkedIn from being littered with tweets, others hold the opinion that LinkedIn may fail in offering depth as that provided by Twitter.

It appears that Twitter has earned the wrath of developers in its attempt to tightly control the user experience. As for LinkedIn, they appear to be taking a neutral side as they allow posting of tweets from the LinkedIn. They recommend that users begin their tweet conversations from LinkedIn to enjoy the best.

Viewed from a third party perspective, the split may be the best thing that happened to both of them as it allows them the freedom to experiment with new programs and evolve into a full-fledged platform.