Using polls on Twitter and LinkedIn is one way to gather feedback from your audience. They are easy to create and similar on both social media platforms. I’ve gathered the information from Twitter and LinkedIn about polls in this post for easy reference.
About Twitter Polls
Twitter Polls allow you to weigh in on questions posed by other people on Twitter. You can also easily create your own poll and see the results instantly.
Vote in a Twitter Poll
To vote in a poll: When you see a poll in a Tweet, simply click or tap your preferred option. The results are instantly displayed after you vote. Your vote is indicated with a checkmark next to the choice.
You can vote in a poll one time. The current total vote count and the amount of time remaining in the poll are displayed under the poll choices.
To view final results: A Twitter Poll ends between 5 minutes and 7 days after it has been posted, depending on the duration set by the person who Tweeted it. The winning choice is shown in bold. If you vote in a poll, you may receive a push notification alerting you to the final results.
Vote Privately
When you vote in a poll, your participation is not shown to others: neither the poll creator nor other participants can see who has voted or how they voted.
How to Create a Twitter Poll
- Click into the Tweet compose box at the top of your Home timeline, or click the Tweet button in the left navigation bar.
- Click the Add poll icon
- Type your poll question into the main compose box. You can use up to the maximum character count (280 characters) in your poll question. There must be text included in the Tweet to post a poll.
- Insert your first poll option into the Choice 1 box, and your second poll option into the Choice 2 box. You can use up to 25 characters for each option.
- Click + Add a choice to add additional options to your poll. Your poll can have up to four options.
- Your poll’s duration defaults to 1 day. You can change the duration of your poll by clicking 1 day and adjusting the days, hours, and minutes. The minimum amount of time for a poll is 5 minutes, and the maximum is 7 days.
- Click Tweet to post the poll.
Note: Photos cannot be included in a Twitter poll.
About LinkedIn Polls
LinkedIn polls are limited to 140 characters. Like Twitter, you can have four options. Each option allows for up to 25 characters. Your choices for poll duration are 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks. LinkedIn does not allow requests for political opinions, medical information, or other sensitive data.
How to Create a LinkedIn Poll
You can create a poll from LinkedIn’s homepage. If you’re an admin of a LinkedIn Page, or a LinkedIn Group you can create a poll directly from the page or group’s homepage.
To create a poll from your homepage:
- Click
- Start a post.
- Click Create a poll.
- In the Create a poll window, type your question and fill in the options.
There is a minimum of two options and a maximum of four options on a poll.
Click +Add option to add another option.
Select the Poll duration from the dropdown.
The default duration is one week.
- Click Next.
- Click the Edit icon to edit the post.
- Select who you want to share the poll with.
- You can add more to the post in the What do you want to talk about? field (optional).
- Click Post.
Though similar, there are differences between Twitter and LinkedIn polls. If you would like to post the SAME exact poll on both platforms, I suggest:
- Questions should be 140 characters or less
- Options should be 25 characters or less (up to 4 options)
- Duration should be 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks
- No requests for political opinions, medical information, or other sensitive data
- No photo
Have you used polls on either platform? I’d love to hear how that worked for you.
What will you do this month to grow your author business?