Mashable - The Social Media Guide - Latest Comments in LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

Roy Abraham — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:21:57 -0000

LinkedIn is great because it is a niche social network: professionals looking for professionals. I have my resume up there and have recruiters contact me often. Facebook is great for all things social, but I think what we'll see with the smaller players is a focus on niches.

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

tonyfaustino — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:58:31 -0000

@IanHendry: I agree with your comment to a point that it is difficult to begin brokering new relationships with LI once you start hitting a critical mass of connections. For me, that number was ~250. However, by participating actively in LI Discussion Groups and through people that I began conversing with on Twitter, I've been able to continue growing my LI connections (at 300 as of today).

Could there be better LI Tools to broker additional relationships - Yes. But until then, I'm going to stick with what works for me and that's to contribute to other people's discussions posts, post my own discussions, and take a shot at answering some of the questions posed in the LI Answer Forums. If I can provide insights or comments that help someone on LI, I've found that goes a long way to people extending me invites or earning the permission to send someone an LI Invite.

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

Josh — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:36:58 -0000

I agree. I've made many valuable business connections via Linkedin.

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

msrobbins — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:16:12 -0000

Congratulations!

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

Trace Cohen — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:21:54 -0000

LinkedIn is the best professional network on the web. Id used properly it can act as a great supplement to your resume and enhance your online presence.

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

Jeremy Roberts — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:46:11 -0000

as a recruiter I am excited it continues to grow! I find great candidates and prospects on Linkedin. I think the number of new users probably will continue to rise as unemployment remains high.

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

Tommy Toy — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:53:12 -0000

I totally agree that displaying your Tweets on your LinkedIn profile page can generate a lot of viral traffic.

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

Tommy Toy — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:49:58 -0000

It should also be noted that LinkedIn actually makes a profit, where as mega social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter, do not. I have been a long proponent that the ad-supported revenue model of many social networking sites is "busted" and unworkable.

I have posted numerous posts about ad-supported social networking sites, and pointed out that Rupert Murdoch, owner of MySpace, feels the same way and is re-positioning MySpace as a paid content entertainment portal (gaming and digital content). I often disagree with Mr. Murdoch's business moves, but even he has said very openly that the ad-supported business model for social networks is unprofitable.

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

Jay L. Yu — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:01:56 -0000

LinkedIn is my Business FaceBook and a great way to extend your network beyond where you live and best of all real people and real topics! Congratulations LinkedIn I'll write a blog about you too.

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

pet — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:25:44 -0000

I was one those million that joined last month! Recommended by a friend after talking to him about my up-start business, he thought Linkedin was similar, and could help me market my business---it already has!

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

Yosie Saint-Cyr — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:02:10 -0000

Yes, this year I found myself wanting to network more with other professionals like myself for an exchange of knowledge, points of interest and wanting to know more about them... only Linkedin could offer that.

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

Cheryl — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:15:26 -0000

Haha I contributed in pushing the figure over 50mil by joining yesterday!

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

wecandobiz — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:13:45 -0000

Networking on LinkedIn is not as easy as you think Sam. If there are people you already know then fine -- LinkedIn will happily take your existing e-mail address book, people you know, and connect you with them. But trying to break out of people you know is tough. You're dependent on your contacts making the connections for you and if you try to make direct connections with people you don't know you risk restrictions placed on your account.

I've always sais that LinkedIn could be so much more powerful if it had tools to broker valuable new connections with people who have a specific need for what it is you do. But as it stands the frustrated masses are left spamming the Groups in order to try and broaden their reach.

LinkedIn is the most successful business focused network because it's the only one people hear about.

Ian Hendry
CEO, WeCanDo.BIZ
http://www.wecando.biz

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

just adhi — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:25:57 -0000

LinkedIN is like Facebook to us here in China.

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

Adhi — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:24:17 -0000

We've used it more here in China, since they blocked twitter, FB and other sites.

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

dowelltaggart — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:03:40 -0000

Is LinkedIn growing because Twitter and Facebook have been blocked from many companies?

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

socialsammy — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:05:32 -0000

I agree, the value of LinkedIn lies in the fact that you can network with real people and there are often more fruitful outcomes, can't wait for it to fully catch on in New Zealand.

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

JoAnne Starks — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:19:23 -0000

I am a LinkedIn (and Facebook) junkie. I am also a relentless pusher—peer pressuring anyone I meet to use as much as I do. I recently blogged about how I used it in my job search.

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

ppc tips — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:43:00 -0000

I agree LinkedIn is way less interactive. I guess it depends on what you are looking for out of the site, if you will like it or not.

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

Rob — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:34:25 -0000

I would argue that part of LinkedIn's recent growth is due to the recent decline of the economy. If you look at the graph above, the growth started around November of last year (when the decline really began to gain popularity within the media). I would wonder if part of the recent growth is also due to an influx of folks who are starting to job hunt now that their severance packages are nearing expiration?

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

Jilanwagdy — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:29:50 -0000

LinkedIn is very helpful to me , it really gets me a huge business opportunies, I agree with you about the discussion groups , it didn't grab my attention yet.

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

Morgan — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:39:05 -0000

This is pretty amazing, but i've been reading some concerning information about the lack of minorities on LinkedIn... "According to the latest data from Quantcast, only 5 percent of LinkedIn users are black and only 2 percent are Hispanic." - Fistful of Talent... Is this correct? If so, I would not want my company or recruiters using as a recruiting tool as it misrepresents the market and talent pools. I don't profess to know if this was accurate but an interesting read... Please repost if you have other statistics as it is very important for all HR managers and executives.

http://www.fistfuloftalent....

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

Tracy Thrower Conyers — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:34:23 -0000

For my $.02, LinkedIn caters to a less interactive crowd than FB and Twitter. I see this trend as late adopters starting to jump into social media and starting with the least intimidating platform. I'd put money on FB and Twitter eventually benefitting from LinkedIn growth. And unless Twitter were to really dumb down their eventual business platform, there will always be a place for LinkedIn as the "starter" application for users -- at least as long as the baby boomers are still in the workforce.

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

Julian Bond — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:06:53 -0000

50 million headhunters in the world. Who knew?

Re: LinkedIn Surpasses 50 Million Users

Atle Iversen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:17:19 -0000

I'm registered on LinkedIn (and I'm obviously not alone :-) ), but I really haven't found a real use for it yet ?

The discussion groups could be very useful, but they doesn't seem to be very popular yet...the potential for LinkedIn is huge, but I think they need to improve "something" to become more useful ?