LinkedIn's Popularity

Last week I blogged about why paying for LinkedIn might pay off for some people.  This week I want to talk about how popular LinkedIn is becoming and has become since it's launch in May of 2003.  LinkedIn announced that it has finally surpassed 100 million users!  It was founded in 2002 and launched in 2003, but took six years to reach 50 million users. Six years to reach 50 million users seems pretty fast, they have really seen their increase the past two years.  In October 2010 they reached 85 million users and at the beginning of this year when they decided to go public they were at 90 million users.  That is quite an increase in just 3-4 months which goes to show how popular LinkedIn is becoming and why it is so important to maintain a professional image so you can continue to build your personal brand.  In their latest research, LinkedIn has found they are adding one new member per second!!!

To celebrate this accomplishment, LinkedIn has done some research on it's users - who uses and when they use - and has published it for others to see. Some of the facts they have found are:

• LinkedIn has experienced most of it's growth internationally - 56% of it's users are outside the U.S.
• It's fastest three growing countries are: Brazil, Mexico, India, and France.
• Most users get on LinkedIn during the workday - around noon.  However, mobile usage shows around 8pm.
• 1 million users are teachers; 20% work in the service sector; 9% work in finance; and another 9% in high-tech industries.

The article really shows us a lot.  It reminds us how popular any type of social media is becoming because even though Facebook might not be the biggest thing in a few years, there are hundreds of other types of social networks that are breaking through and on the rise.  Once again, I have discussed this previously quite a bit, it is a continuous reminder of why is it so important that we maintain our LinkedIn pages and keep a professional and updated profile.  More and more employers and recruiters are adding LinkedIn to their horizon when searching for potential employees so there is no telling how many times our pages are viewed or when our experiences and education will be wanted by a hiring manager.

"LinkedIn Surpasses 100 Million Users"