Social Networking Sites and LinkedIn

Online social networks have become ubiquitous in the past few years. What forms of value do users get from these services and who is most likely to sign up on LinkedIn versus other sites?

Forms of value that users receive from social networking sites:

1) Re-establish connections with former co-workers, friends, family, lovers, etc.
2) Form new relationships with individuals. (i.e. meet new people, form new friendships, find dates, etc.)
3) Knowledge of what others are doing in their lives. This is accomplished via status bars, bloggs, posted pictures and videos, messages, etc.
4) Self-expression. Users have multiple forms of media to convey their thoughts, expressions, stories, experiences, etc. for an audience.
5) Networking. Social networks make it possible to find people who have something of value. (ex. someone looking for a job at a software company could find an Oracle employee and get that person to pass his/her resume around within the company.)
6) Advertising and promotion. Individuals and companies can leverage social networks to promote events, products, bands, music, groups, etc.
7) Groups. Through social networks, people are able to find others with similar interests and form/join groups.
8) Social interaction. People are able to communicate and interact with each other in a virtual environment.
9) Social media. Social networks offer a place for social media.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media

LinkedIn:
People most likely to signup on LinkedIn as opposed to other social networking sites are:

1) Human Resource (HR) recruiters - for companies looking to hire new employees.
2) Independent Recruiters - use it to match jobseekers with open positions at companies.
3) Jobseekers - those seeking new employment by passing their resumes around and meeting recruiters.
4) Career-minded individuals - those persons who actively network with the purpose of managing/enhancing their careers.
5) Entrepreneurs - seeking contacts to find resources necessary for starting up a business. (i.e. seeking venture capitalists)
6) Business Executives - establishing contacts with other business executives for purposes of mergers and acquisitions, lining up their next job, etc.
7) Salespersons - use it to find sale leads (typically business-to-business sales).
8) Venture Capitalists - use it to find entrepreneurs with great ideas and companies to invest in.
9) Consultants - use it to find clients.

LinkedIn has positioned itself as a business-focused networking site that attracts “business-minded” users. This particular niche is what distinguishes LinkedIn from many other social networking sites such as myspace and facebook, which are not segmented and attract the general masses.