A friend of mine that I recently added as a LinkedIn connection sent me a message the other day (via LinkedIn) where he questioned my choice to forward my twitter feed to my LinkedIn feed.

It made me think about the actual reasons why I have chosen to connect the two services, which feels completely natural to me by the way.

His argument is that it’s not very professional that I sometimes tweet personal things and LinkedIn should remain professional and not turn into “another facebook” as he put it. Although I understand his point, it’s something I have done on purpose. Here’s my reasoning:

Personally, I believe that the more personality you show (even in a so called “professional” sphere) the better a potential employer or colleague will get to know you as a person. (not only as the machine you used to be in the olden days where your CV was your only way through that door along with a a short introduction in the form of an interview where everyone is on their very best behavior).

And the argument that it turns LinkedIn into “another facebook”? Well, yes.. To some extent I guess, but that is also a part of the person that an employer will hire. The majority of recruiters will eventually google you before hiring you. This will hopefully give the employer a broader, more correct picture of who you are. I have chosen to share more rather than less, this I feel, gives a more complete picture of who I am, not only as a professional, but a more complete picture of me as a professional person (who actually does things besides work).

A lot of times what you do besides work can paint a more complete picture of who you are and how you will be to work with.

The more information I can provide to a potential employer, (that I also wholeheartedly stand for), the better.

But we are all different, and that’s the whole point. I’m not saying that this is the end all answer to this issue, but it’s my thoughts on the matter, today. But as with most things online, you wake up to a new world every day, with new things to sort out and handle. This is more of a general attitude I have towards online transparency and the overall good it will continue to do. As @jocke puts it: “Be honest and do good shit”

Oh, and here’s a good article on TNW that also touches on the subject: Let’s End Networking, Please