When we’re talking “social networks”, LinkedIn and Twitter are two of the big boys (with Facebook being the obvious third).  So when two of these networks cease to work together it’s kind of a big deal.

For me personally, this isn’t a big deal.  I don’t have my Twitter accounts (either personal or business) connected to my LinkedIn account.  If I’m going to provide a status update to my LI network, I’ll just make the update directly on the site or through the mobile app.  But in the grand scheme of “social media” this IS a big deal that I don’t think is getting the press it deserves.

I didn’t receive anything directly from the tweet folks, but here’s the email that I received in my inbox yesterday from the LinkedIn team:

Hi Greg,

LinkedIn and Twitter have worked together since 2009 to enable you to share your professional conversations on both platforms. Twitter recently evolved its strategy and this will result in a change to the way Tweets appear in third-party applications. Starting today Tweets will no longer be displayed on LinkedIn.

We know that sharing updates from LinkedIn to Twitter is a valuable service for our members. Moving forward, you will still be able to share updates with your Twitter audience by posting them on LinkedIn.

How can I continue to share updates on both LinkedIn and Twitter?
Simply start your conversation on LinkedIn. Compose your update, check the box with the Twitter icon, and click “Share.” This will automatically push your update to both your LinkedIn connections and your Twitter followers just as before.

What changes can I expect to see on LinkedIn?
Any conversation you start on Twitter will no longer be automatically shared with your LinkedIn network, even if you synced your LinkedIn and Twitter accounts.

If you would like more information about what this means for your synced LinkedIn and Twitter accounts, please visit our related Help Center topics.

Thank you,
The LinkedIn Team

Why the disconnect?  Personally I think it’s because Twitter wants to distance itself.  As you know, there were recently 6.5 million LinkedIn password that were compromised (change your password if you haven’t yet).  When you’re dealing with security issues it’s never a good thing.  Not to mention the fact that Twitter is constantly positioning itself a cool and hip rather than the more professional LinkedIn (or the more personal Facebook).

What do you think… Am I making a big deal out of nothing?