You may have heard about social networking sites on the Web. If you view a list of social
networking Web sites (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_
websites) on Wikipedia, a popular reference site, you will see links to more than 100
networking sites, available from around the world and catering to every taste. The
sites range from general, including the very popular MySpace and Facebook, to the
particular, focusing on different topics such as photo sharing, wine, and music.
LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com) is a Web site designed to connect business professionals
and enable them to share information, get answers, and promote themselves
and their businesses.
Though LinkedIn was founded in 2003, it has experienced explosive growth
only since 2006. For example, according to Nielsen Online rankings as of October
2007 (http://www.webpronews.com/blogtalk/2007/11/19/linkedin-growing-morequickly-
than-facebook), LinkedIn subscribers jumped from more than 1.7 million
users to more than 4.9 million users, a jump of more than 189 percent, between
October 2006 and October 2007. In terms of percentage growth, that put LinkedIn
among the top 10 fastest growing social networking sites, beating the growth even of
Facebook and MySpace. What makes LinkedIn so popular?
The answer: LinkedIn offers subscribers a number of high-value benefits.