Sanguine et Purpure
Now, let's just see if we can use it rather than refer to it as an online rolodex.
How would you use it then?
Actually, I am finding this easier to use to keep track of people as business cards are a cumbersome ritual and these days positions change, sometimes rather suddenly.
I don't really know, but I think the powers that be at LinkedIn are trying to make it as visited as Facebook and MySpace. There needs to be a way to contact and drop notes here and there and a reason for users on LinkedIn to do so. Right now it is stagnant. No interaction. Just a stale, "I am connected to you" and "you are connected to me." No contact. There needs to be a better interaction there to keep me coming back as I do on Facebook and MySpace.
Don't get me wrong, I will still use it as a warehouse for my online resume and as an opening for employment head hunters, in case someone finds my profile and might have an opportunity that fits me, but I won't use it to interact with others. That is why it is a stagnant social network and why it won't get much traffic beyond people posting their resume and looking for others to connect with (hence the online rolodex reference).
I am a part of the SigEp Group, but I haven't gone out of my way to seek out any other brother in that group that I wouldn't have found otherwise. I may be making a huge leap here and forgive me if I am only drawing on my personal experience in making this assumption, but I think others have followed this same pattern of behavior in using LinkedIn.
I welcome any rebuttle to this comment as I am only speaking from experience. Are there any numbers out there that could prove otherwise?
Like Facebook, Plaxo, or the Foundation site, LinkedIn is as useful as you make it. If you hit it often and add contacts you will see the value extends beyond a mere online Rolodex and recruiter magnet. If you don't use it then, well, it won't.
The Groups have a discussion area that works like a forum. Someone enters a topic and others can comment. One thread in the SigEp group was started by a guy asking "What Chapter are you from?" - so far at least 173 people have responded.
You also can send a direct message to any member of a group you are in. Normally you can only message your first level contacts.
LinkedIn is adding mini application widgets to its capabilities too. There are no "Zombie Wars" but you can share presentations from Google Docs, lists of books you are reading, and other business-y things.
Among the many places I am signed up I use LinkedIn (often), Facebook (some), and the SigEp Foundation site (rarely). I have a MySpace page but almost never go there. I return to places that fit my needs and LinkedIn does, as do places like Twitter (@wordjunky - of course), Flickr, and del.icio.us, all for different reasons.
Here is where I stand based on your statement. Does this say something about our generations? Or does it say something about the way we use Web 2.0 Technology.
Among the many places I am signed up I use Facebook (often), MySpace(some), and the SigEp Foundation site (rarely). I have a LinkedIn page but almost never go there. I return to places that fit my needs and LinkedIn does, as do places like Twitter (@wrhull - of course), Flickr, and del.icio.us, all for different reasons.
I also want to comment that I portray my nonprofit organization on MySpace (used most often because of its progressive ability to add friends), Facebook (some, for its security in receiving transactions), Twitter (@ecoordinator), YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/rgerholdt) and Change.org (least because of its highly niched community in activism.
So it can be used professionally, but each has its own purpose. Don't you wish there was a Web 2.0 hub where all things emanated from one sign in and from there you could populate all of your profiles, receive comments, etc.?
Man, my grammar just about died in that last comment. Sorry fellas. I need to pay more attention, I guess.
I prefer to think of it as a difference in the way we use the web to meet our needs. To call it 'generational' implies that I am 'old', which is, of course, preposterous! Any more talk like that and I'll whack you with my cane!
http://Friendfeed.com is probably as close as you come to a Web 2.0 "hub" application. It will aggregate feeds from many established sources (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, del.icio.us, etc., etc.), and also allows RSS feds from other streams. The only application I did not see was MySpace.
It is a receiver only. You still have to set up and manage your accounts in each additional application, but it is a start, I suppose.
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