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I'm always surprised that Facebook didn't pivot into that space and eat LinkedIn's lunch. The bar is really low. Facebook's main layout is already very profes

by Pxtl 7y ago

I'm always surprised that Facebook didn't pivot into that space and eat LinkedIn's lunch. The bar is really low. Facebook's main layout is already very professional-looking (except for the ads and games), and they market it for internal social networks. Bolting on resumes and job searching, letting users have a professional face to their page... wouldn't be a huge stretch.

ghaff 7y ago
One of the challenges with that is that, to the degree I "like" either Facebook or LinkedIn, I actually like the fact that one is mostly a personal social network and the other is pretty much just a Rolodex for professional contacts. I'm probably not alone in trying to keep the two spheres largely separate (though I don't on Twitter).
- Pxtl 7y ago
  Well yes, they'd have to do the Google Plus Circles sort of thing where your different friends are placed into different groups, so you can keep your Professional and Personal facebook separate-but-linked. And yeah, Twitter is the water-cooler/street-corner, it conflates the professional and the personal in its culture.
  - lonelappde 7y ago
    And that's why Google+ ate FB'd and LinkedIn's lunch
    - skinkestek 7y ago
      No. The reason for that was that Google is Google and in Google the only thing that matters is launching new things[0] and keeping gmail/gsuite[1] and the ads[2] running. You might think I'm exaggerating, but frankly, even the search product has seen a massive decline since 2009. [0]: based on testimonials from googlers and xooglers here on HN. [1][2]: based on observations.
    - ghaff 7y ago
      In all fairness, Google+ failed for a lot of reasons--starting with the "Google" part. But Circles was actually a pretty nice concept that I wish Facebook had to separate my friend friends from people who are more like professional acquaintances.
      - singron 7y ago
        Facebook quickly copied the feature. You can put friends in groups and then limit your various activities to those groups.
        acheron 7y ago
        Facebook had it before Google+ existed. They just make it difficult to find in the UI.
        ghaff 7y ago
        I had no idea. Admittedly, I don't use Facebook much.
      - wolco 7y ago
        Real name policy stopped the initial growth.
mikepurvis 7y ago
There's probably a risk there of Facebook being perceived as doing something too "niche", when their pitch has always been to be everything to everyone. In any case, given Facebook's long-standing issues with privacy controls and user trust, it would probably be a super bad look trying to also take on LinkedIn's ultra-sleazy business model of selling access to search tools, info on who looked at your profile, etc.
ummonk 7y ago
Facebook Jobs seems to have found more success in the blue collar niche, where users aren't on LinkedIn.

by Pxtl 7y ago

ghaff 7y ago

One of the challenges with that is that, to the degree I "like" either Facebook or LinkedIn, I actually like the fact that one is mostly a personal social network and the other is pretty much just a Rolodex for professional contacts. I'm probably not alone in trying to keep the two spheres largely separate (though I don't on Twitter).

Pxtl 7y ago
Well yes, they'd have to do the Google Plus Circles sort of thing where your different friends are placed into different groups, so you can keep your Professional and Personal facebook separate-but-linked. And yeah, Twitter is the water-cooler/street-corner, it conflates the professional and the personal in its culture.
- lonelappde 7y ago
  And that's why Google+ ate FB'd and LinkedIn's lunch
  - skinkestek 7y ago
    No. The reason for that was that Google is Google and in Google the only thing that matters is launching new things[0] and keeping gmail/gsuite[1] and the ads[2] running. You might think I'm exaggerating, but frankly, even the search product has seen a massive decline since 2009. [0]: based on testimonials from googlers and xooglers here on HN. [1][2]: based on observations.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    In all fairness, Google+ failed for a lot of reasons--starting with the "Google" part. But Circles was actually a pretty nice concept that I wish Facebook had to separate my friend friends from people who are more like professional acquaintances.
    - singron 7y ago
      Facebook quickly copied the feature. You can put friends in groups and then limit your various activities to those groups.
      - acheron 7y ago
        Facebook had it before Google+ existed. They just make it difficult to find in the UI.
        ghaff 7y ago
        I had no idea. Admittedly, I don't use Facebook much.
    - wolco 7y ago
      Real name policy stopped the initial growth.

mikepurvis 7y ago

There's probably a risk there of Facebook being perceived as doing something too "niche", when their pitch has always been to be everything to everyone. In any case, given Facebook's long-standing issues with privacy controls and user trust, it would probably be a super bad look trying to also take on LinkedIn's ultra-sleazy business model of selling access to search tools, info on who looked at your profile, etc.

ummonk 7y ago

Facebook Jobs seems to have found more success in the blue collar niche, where users aren't on LinkedIn.