I've seen this talked about very often. Developers on Twitter speaking about how the bird application has done way more for their career than LinkedIn could have ever done. I've personally had success in both places but I'm not going to lie, I'm a lot more comfortable being myself on Twitter than I ever will be on LinkedIn.
Is Twitter the answer for devs in search of opportunities? My issue with LinkedIn has been the recruiters who clearly have not read my profile and most recently the increasing number of people who seem to be in the tech industry but are all recruiting for the same MLM. That's probably a rant for another blog post.
Despite all of that LinkedIn is still definitely the place to connect with recruiters and hiring managers that can help you get a step into the industry. Finding a good recruiter is tough but they do exist, they're out there.
I've listed out some advantages of networking in both areas.
- At times feels a bit friendlier than LinkedIn (not always the case there definitely is toxicity on both apps)
- It can be easier to find tech events thanks to Twitter's retweet feature.
- Easier to share content - don't need approval to be able to go live on Twitter.
- Character limit gets you straight to the point and is often a great TLDR experience.
- Specifically made for career development
- Premium product gives access to a lot of tutorials
- Are job insights really that great? I'm a bit unsure of this one. I never really liked knowing that someone viewed my profile from a company I applied to. The salary estimation has been correct a whopping 0% of the time.
- Allows you to quickly lookup potential coworkers at the company you're applying to and learn more about the culture.
- No character limit can sometimes be great as you can get across more ideas in a LinkedIn post.
So each of the apps definitely have their ups and downs. I will say though that despite not being created for the purpose of networking for your career, Twitter is surprisingly good for it. If you're someone looking for your first dev job I wouldn't favor one over the other. The more places you can network the better. For later in your career I can see there being a focus on whichever works better for you.
What are your thoughts on Twitter vs LinkedIn for networking purposes? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
If you're a new dev looking for their first job check out the ebook I am working on:
Build a Product become a Developer
I'm adding some great methodologies and cool tech you can learn to stand out for your job search. Feel free to follow me on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn as well!
Cover Photo by Hello I'm Nik 🎞 on Unsplash
Top comments (1)
Linkedin is the most crappiest social network out there. The world needs a new social-professional networks.