1/n @thenayanasuri and I were recently discussing the efficacy of LinkedIn v/s Twitter. While I was unequivocal about my support for Twitter, I had to articulate the reasons why I prefer Twitter over LinkedIn. These observations are a result of my own experience on Twitter. YMMV.

2/n A LinkedIn account is pretty much mandatory for professionals these days, regardless of whether you like it or not. Twitter, however, is completely optional. You are not peer pressured into joining, but completely voluntary. Hence it’s self selecting.

3/n LinkedIn has now acquired this reputation of being spammy, with attention-seeking posts. I'm not saying that Twitter is above that, but it hasn't acquired a reputation for it yet. The percentage of genuinely smart and witty content is still relatively high on Twitter.

4/n LinkedIn is also the place where people expect way too many unsolicited messages. You have sales people, recruiters and also ads in your DMs. Twitter DMs, OTOH, are pristine and feel a little more personal than LinkedIn messages. So people don't mind responding on Twitter.

5/n Twitter is also a place where a lot of people come to disperse information to other people, but LinkedIn is very functional (you update your LinkedIn profile for signaling and getting a job). So the intent definitely has a bearing on the engagement on the platform.

6/n Finally, LinkedIn shows job titles, year of graduation etc. front and center. But Twitter doesn't have that information readily available unless you put it there. As @thenayanasuri put it, On LinkedIn, you're a title. On Twitter, you're a person.

7/n I've genuinely found that people on Twitter are much more helpful. This platform still gives you that feeling of belonging to a small niche, which serves to give the benefit of doubt to people soliciting help on the platform.