Linkedin.com makes headway as networking site for professionals
by Jake Coyle on Feb. 08, 2007, under Calendar
Music from indie rock band Arcade Fire's latest disc is being leaked on the Net.
Following in the footsteps of MySpace, Facebook and Friendster, www.Linkedin.com appears to be the next widespread social network.
The site focuses not on teenagers or college students, but professionals – who, after all, have historically been the most keen on “networking” – gathering business cards and contacts.
The site – which claims 9 million worldwide users – is a way to foster your business connections. It features a profile page and ways to link to others, who are ranked as either your direct connections, second-degree connections or third-degree connections.
You can endorse co-workers as trustworthy and recommended, or post job openings at your business. Linkedin also includes a relatively new feature called “Answers,” where you can post a question about any business-related concern and receive feedback.
Social networking is perhaps the most prevalent feature of the Web 2.0, and it’s no wonder business networking has become more popular with sites like Linkedin, Jigsaw, Spoke and Ziggs. Still, it’s easy to wonder if all the fuss over networking is a bit overheated. One is no more likely to find a job through Linkedin than get a date by MySpace.
Of course, that may change one day. Either way, for now, our online selves remain firmly divided between play (MySpace) and work (Linkedin).
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One of the most eagerly anticipated albums of 2007 is the upcoming sophomore disc from Arcade Fire, the indie rock band from Montreal whose 2005 debut (“Funeral”) was a brilliant sensation. Many of the tracks from the new album, “Neon Bible,” have been leaked on the Internet, where music blogs have gobbled them up. The CD’s first single, “Black Mirror,” can be streamed legally on the band’s MySpace page or in the “Win’s scrapbook” section of the Web site: www.arcadefire.com. The song doesn’t suggest another breakthrough for Arcade Fire: it’s overly dramatic and slightly pretentious. But others from “Neon Bible” hold greater promise – especially the softly sweet “My Body is a Cage.”
What’s your favorite Web site? E-mail AP Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle at fcoyle@ap.org
