Earlier this week Linkedin announced a new feature allowing users to synch their Twitter and Linkedin updates. Linkedin users can now tweet their status updates and Twitter users can update their Linkedin status by adding the hashtag #li or #in to their tweets.

Linkedin is more of a professional social media tool than Facebook. Most Linkedin users are trying to connect to other professionals, coworkers and friends. The new Twitter feature offers the user the option of all tweets being posted or just the ones with the hashtag #li or #in attached to the posting. This is helpful, because not all tweets are created equal. Some may be more industry related and others may be more "friend" related, like responding to someone you follow. Here's a tip, only post industry or business related tweets in your Linkedin profile. Not many people you are connected to through Linkedin will care about your response to a Twitter follower of yours they do not know. Plus, if you are using Linkedin for networking or looking for a job, your industry related tweet will seem more appropriate.

Twitter is the more active social media outlet of the two but with this new feature available it is sure to benefit both.

Alright, I am going to say it. I am not the biggest fan of Facebook. I find it to be cumbersome and somewhat archaic. I have basis for these claims, but I will not bore you with all of them. I will cite the latest experience as an example though.

I have created many postings on my wall but never thought of creating a discussion until last week after I read an article which inspired me to do this. So, I wrote two paragraphs about a particular topic in the Discussions area. The topic was timely and I talked about social media and reality television. I thought it would inspire some conversation and I might even learn something from what others would post.

After I finished writing, I clicked the post button and there was my topic. Everyone could see it and would have the opportunity to read and talk about.

The next day, I took a few minutes to check and see if I had any responses to my new discussion. Well, I was terribly disappointed to find out that my discussion had actually evaporated into a mighty abyss. It was gone. Why did this happen? Here I was trying to invoke some conversation and communication and the entire catalyst for discussion had disappeared. No answers. Silence.

I had a moment where I thought I should inquire why this occurred and then it quickly dissipated and was replaced by pure frustration. This was one of a series of frustrating incidents I had experienced using Facebook. It would not be the final straw for me, but I could see there were only a few strands of straw left in my stack of patience.

For now, I will continue to use Facebook. Everyone in the world is using it, so I guess I must as well... right? I enjoy using other social media outlets like Twitter and Linkedin and have not experienced problems with these great tools. I have made great professional connections with them. I just cannot understand why usability is such an issue with Facebook.