LinkedIn: Networking for Professionals

LinkedIn: Networking for Professionals

http://www.linkedin.com

As I stated in my previous post about social media, LinkedIn is a social networking site for experienced professionals from around the world. The site has over 53 million members (with a new member joining almost every second) in over 170 industries and over 200 countries around the world. Executives from all of the Fortune 500 companies are also LinkedIn members. About half of LinkedIn’s members are from outside of the United States (About Us, 2009).

What is LinkedIn?

 

This video was taken from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzT3JVUGUzM.

When joining LinkedIn, members create their profiles and then invite people to join their network.

According to LinkedIn.com, the following is a list of things that users can do through their networks:

• Manage the information that’s publicly available about you as professional
• Find and be introduced to potential clients, service providers, and subject experts who come recommended
• Create and collaborate on projects, gather data, share files and solve problems
• Be found for business opportunities and find potential partners
• Gain new insights from discussions with likeminded professionals in private group settings
• Discover inside connections that can help you land jobs and close deals
• Post and distribute job listings to find the best talent for your company
• (AboutUs, 2009)

I joined LinkedIn.com in June of 2009. I have about 40 connections that I have made with previous employers, current employers, classmates, relatives, professors and acquaintances. Through LinkedIn, I have stayed connected with people that I have graduated college with in May 2009 and professors that I have had during college. I have also connected with my graduate school professors on LinkedIn.

One of the most interesting things about LinkedIn is that employers and previous employers can give references. One of my previous employers wrote me a recommendation on LinkedIn and it is posted so that employers can see this recommendation.

Through LinkedIn I have created the West Virginia University Public Relations Student Society of America group. Members can request to join the group and I approve requests. I created the group this summer and there are about ten members now, but I plan to promote it so that more people will join LinkedIn and the WVU PRSSA group.

References:

About Us. (2009). LinkedIn.com. Retrieved December 14, 2009, from http://press.linkedin.com/about

What is Linked In? (2008). YouTube. Retrieved December 14, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzT3JVUGUzM

Social Media Revolution

Social Media Revolution

Take a look at your everyday life. How often do you interact with social media? Social networking Web sites are becoming a very popular way for individuals to connect with other people from around the world. These social networking opportunities are also a way for companies to market their brand and to look for employees. The picture below represents the social media landscape:

Social Media Landscape

The picture was taken from: http://www.susanmernit.com/blog/2564571564_70181a48b0.jpg

The Social Media Landscape picture shows social media separated into various different sections. There are virtual worlds such as Second Life, share media like YouTube, social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn, and many more. This picture shows just how diverse social can be and how many different types of social media that there are.

Social Media Revolution Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8&feature=related

After watching this video it is hard to believe that social media is just a fad. Instead, it is becoming a way of life for consumers and businesses around the world. In the Social Media Revolution video, there were a variety of different statistics and facts listed. I found the following set of statistics to be the most interesting:

Years to reach 50 million users:

• Radio: 38 years
• TV: 13 years
• Internet: 4 years
• iPod: 3 years
• Facebook: added 100 million users in 9 months

(YouTube-Social, 2009).

Facebook, which was started in 2004, has over 300 million users today and 100 million of these users joined the network in just nine months! These are impressive statistics, especially when radio took 38 years to reach just 50 million users. LinkedIn is an interconnected network of experienced professionals from around the world. LinkedIn’s Web site is http://www.linkedin.com. Businesses can benefit from joining LinkedIn in a variety of different ways. In the video that I posed, there are statistics that show that 80% of companies are using LinkedIn as their primary tool to find employees (YouTube-Social, 2009).

References:

About Us. (2009). LinkedIn.com. Retrieved December 14, 2009,

from http://press.linkedin.com/about

YouTube- Social Media Revolution. (30, July 2009). Retrieved December 14, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8&feature=related