5 ms·

Exactly, LinkedIn doesn't have a competitor that can position itself to scoop its customers out from underneath its very nose.

by hartror 15y ago

raganwald 15y ago
If I worked at LinkedIn, I would spend a lot of time thinking about what to do if Facebook ever decides that you can have both "friends" and "business contacts."
- lpolovets 15y ago
  (disclosure: I used to work at LinkedIn and at Google, though not on Orkut) I think Orkut provided a strong datapoint for your question. They supported a professional and personal profile when they launched, and the overall finding was that a single site supporting social + professional networks is a turn-off because most people want to keep those networks separate (since many of your friends have no interest in your resume, and since you don't want your boss to see your pictures at some party). One potential issues is that there are really 3 groups of people: friends, coworkers, and "both". For each posting, photo, action, etc, you want one of the three groups to see it. That becomes a hassle compared to just keeping friends and coworkers in separate social networks (one pitfall, though, is that using two social networks makes it hard to send messages to friends and coworkers without having to write the message twice). That said, Facebook has a ton of smart people, so maybe that can figure out something that Google could not. One last thing: I think part of the perceived value of LinkedIn is that they have not deviated significantly from their goal of being The professional network. I remember it took them a long time to even add profile photos, because there was a debate about whether those were more "professional" or "fun". I think it would be as hard for FB to become a professional network as it would for LinkedIn to become a social network (while not losing its professional member base)

5 ms·

Exactly, LinkedIn doesn't have a competitor that can position itself to scoop its customers out from underneath its very nose.

by hartror 15y ago

Exactly, LinkedIn doesn't have a competitor that can position itself to scoop its customers out from underneath its very nose.

raganwald 15y ago
If I worked at LinkedIn, I would spend a lot of time thinking about what to do if Facebook ever decides that you can have both "friends" and "business contacts."
- lpolovets 15y ago
  (disclosure: I used to work at LinkedIn and at Google, though not on Orkut) I think Orkut provided a strong datapoint for your question. They supported a professional and personal profile when they launched, and the overall finding was that a single site supporting social + professional networks is a turn-off because most people want to keep those networks separate (since many of your friends have no interest in your resume, and since you don't want your boss to see your pictures at some party). One potential issues is that there are really 3 groups of people: friends, coworkers, and "both". For each posting, photo, action, etc, you want one of the three groups to see it. That becomes a hassle compared to just keeping friends and coworkers in separate social networks (one pitfall, though, is that using two social networks makes it hard to send messages to friends and coworkers without having to write the message twice). That said, Facebook has a ton of smart people, so maybe that can figure out something that Google could not. One last thing: I think part of the perceived value of LinkedIn is that they have not deviated significantly from their goal of being The professional network. I remember it took them a long time to even add profile photos, because there was a debate about whether those were more "professional" or "fun". I think it would be as hard for FB to become a professional network as it would for LinkedIn to become a social network (while not losing its professional member base)