LinkedIn is a business related social networking site designed for professional networking. The site was launched in May of 2003 and has more than 120 million members as of August of 2011. Thier membership is said to be growing at the rate of 2 new members per second.
LinkedIn filed for an IPO in January of 2011 and is traded on the NYSE under the symbol “LNKD”
LinkedIn allows registered users to stay in contact with current and past business associates. The site allows a user to build a list of Connections.Users can invite other users to become connections. If the reciptient of the invitation selects “I don’t know” this counts against the person inviting them and after 5 “IDK” responses, a member cannot invite another user to connect without first supplying their recipient mail address. This method is known as the “gated access approach” and is intended to build trust among LinkedIn users. A user’s contact network is built by creating direct connections, then can connect to second-degree connections (people your connections know) and third-degree connections (when you get an introduction based on a mutual contact)
Employers are able to list jobs and search for potential candidates. Job seekers can view the profiles of hiring managers and determine which of thier existing contacts can introduce them.
LinkedIn also provides Communities and Interest Groups that users can join. Questions can be posed to a Community for answers.
Professional Networking is an important part of business. LinkedIn provides a valuable tool to help you grow and maintain your business contacts.
Here is a link to my LinkedIn profile.