Linked In

Linked In

Part 1: Site Features

Effectiveness of Site in Community Engagement

The design and features of the website contain numerous tools which provide engagement opportunity to the community. According to Breslin, et al (2004) in the article “Online social and business networking communities,” LinkedIn is a business social networking site designed for professionals to create networks by connecting with co-workers and other business professionals and interact with them. Breslin, et al, further explain in section 3.1 that building these networks is made possible through communication and collaboration features embedded in the business social site. Enabled by reading and writing capabilities, these features can be beneficial for people who are seeking new jobs or wanting to strengthen their business connections. One such feature is user profiles; which allow users to share their professional information with other users through a personalized page. Examples of information LinkedIn allows users to post on their profile are: their resume, work history, education history, personal information such as age, interests, etc. This is described by Breslin, et al, as a “user to all” communication; meaning that one user communicates something to all other users on the site. Another feature is sending e-mail privately to people you are connected to in LinkedIn; described by Breslin, et al, as “user to user” communication. Users don't need to use another web portal to send an e-mail; LinkedIn has a web portal that allows them to do so. Recipients are selected through their LinkedIn username rather than their e-mail addresses. Connecting with professionals through a professional social site, without the personal social side, is very important to online users who are trying to build a career; they need a space to expose themselves solely as professionals.

Web Presence Beyond Website

I agree with Randall's (2010) assertion in the article “The social web and your business's five-year survival rate” that customers, audiences, and business users are more informed about the products and services than before. Customers can easily share their opinion about a business or product to their friends using the internet. They can also compare prices and services easily; because of the web, product information is at their fingertips of customers. Companies which are interacting with their customers and keeping a good relationship with them are at a stronger stand point than other companies which only setup an informative website that is one way. These companies are using social media sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay connected to and retain their customers. LinkedIn, which is a business social site, does not only connect professionals to other professionals, it also connects companies to their customers. For example, using LinkedIn, I was able to change the search feature to look for companies instead of people. Then I searched for Athabasca University, and was able to find a company profile with a section listing some of its products and services. LinkedIn has an option that enables you to follow the company (which is different from connecting to an individual who words for a ...