Feb 16, 2009
Why LinkedIN & similar business networks are obviously doomed
There is no shortage of online networks, social / business or otherwise. In fact your time is likely to be a far more constrained resource. To be effective you almost certainly need to limit the number of networks that you focus on.
How to choose?
Recently I seem to have caused some controversy with ‘business’ networkers by suggesting to them that actually LinkedIN (which is probably the most successful business networking platform in the UK) is doomed. Quite simply, I can see no real competition to Facebook as the logical networking platform of choice; both for social and business interactions. Whilst time, space and your attention span 
preclude me from specifically analysing the vast array of ‘also ran’ business networks, please take it as read that where LinkedIN looses out to Facebook, the other do too by at least as much.
A an extendable platform. The bigger killer advantage of FB is that enables the tight and seamless integration of third party applications to be written for its proprietary and powerful architecture. This means that the platform can be almost infinitely extended into virtually any niche, only limited by third party developer’s imagination, simultaneously creating innovative sponsorship and revenue models. At one level this means that FB is not limited to a simple advert model but rather can support viral applications at another level it means you could sell spaces at and run your webinars right in the middle of the platform. None of this is possible with LinkedIN. It has nothing even remotely like this capability. Whilst this is not being exploited today it will be very soon. For instance, one of the LinkedIN services that does offer value is the concept of the online CV (many people use this to conduct pre-meeting research). This is simply an application waiting to be written on FB – and to be frank, it’s not even a complex one! Don’t be misled by the bulk of today’s rather feeble apps, which allow you to send kisses and throw sheep at your friends. Tightly integrated apps mean a better user experience and more time efficiency – that inevitably drives usage, which is the key metric.
Scale of user base. FB is now the largest online community on the planet (having overtaken MySpace at the end of 2008). It’s size advantage over LinkedIN is not large – it is immense and the delta between the two grows virtually hour by hour! In turn LinkedIN is generally regarded as the largest of the business networks, so you see the problem. However, you may fall into the trap of thinking that LinkedIN has a different and more professional audience therefore it’s not about size but rather quality. Well that is not really the case. Typically, today, professionals can be found on both (certainly true of the younger professional female up to about 35 years old), but increasingly true for most other groups too. Whilst they choose to use FB as a social net and LinkedIN as a business net, they are time starved. So should an application that offers them a way to keep business and pleasure separate, but just use ONE platform this will represent a massive timesaving and convenience. In addition as a networking tool why would you not want the biggest chance of meeting people? Why swim in a pond of a few million (maybe 8 million?) when you could network and be part of a pond of upwards of 178 milllion? What is required are the software tools to facilitate order, so you can make best use of your time and meet the people you want to meet (see the initial point about extendable architecture).
So if I am right why does LinkedIN (let alone the other networks) still exist? Quite simply it’s about perception. The myth persists that FB is for the teenage demographic, it is about sending sheep to people and is somehow ‘inappropriate’ for professional use. Actually the perception is changing, each day, the largest demographics on FB are shifting and are now very definitely OUT of the teenage groups. Technically the interface, tools and ‘things’ you can do on FB significantly over shadow the other networks (and its easier to use!) – but you won’t realise that until you give it a go.
Finally it’s free! Most of the other networks, which struggle with ad revenue models (not enough eyeballs to be meaningful), start to introduce chargeable services and membership fees. Why would you want to pay for access to an inferior environment with a very limited number of people? Oh yes, you still have that outdated perception…
Clearly as more people understand what is possible on FB then there will be a natural movement away from LinkedIN et al. What will drive this better understanding? The money that major brands are starting to invest in applications to run on FB, which will then be advertised through mainstream media – not small scale peanuts like Google, but rather through main stream television advertising and other mass media.
Of course I am biased! At n3w media we (along with many similar companies) are working on a number of Facebook applications for clients that give us every reason to believe that this shift is going to happen and happen soon.
Exciting times 
Great piece. I certainly check in to LinkedIn rarely now. It has never been that logical, but we put up with it in the old days (2003) because there was no real alternative. I do agree with most of your assertions but here’s one I am advancing: Facebook is doomed (through mismanagement). We all thought AltaVista was unbeatable 10 or 11 years ago when it came to search, and while Facebook is extendable, I still believe something will come along to knock it off its perch, especially for business networking. What model it will take, I do not know yet.
I do agree with you Jack. All things change, eventually so inevitably something will supersede fb. My assertion is that we have not really seen the full potential of fb yet and I believe we will BEFORE it gets superseded.
As you say once AltaVista led the way, last year it was Google and now we are starting to see another change in search behavior that will negate the usefulness of generic search engines. Hence Google will go.
Maybe the other question is are these cycles of change speeding up? If so then what is driving that?
I can remember in about 1997/8 setting up and training an airline with Internet & Outlook, and AltaVista being the default home page required for all users. Who hears of it these days.
I rarely go to Linked In – not sure why – just never really got into it, but Facebook – every day !
FB and LinkedIn seem to split the audience. It could be an age thing with those of more mature years seeming to favour LinkedIn for professional networking whilst FB is the domain of youngsters for fun only. Clearly I will have to check out FB now.
This is all really interesting. Do you think that there is absolutely no point in belonging to a network like ecademy that charges a monthly fee? Could you give us all some examples of the types of applications that businesses are going to want to put on Facebook? Can anybody with the right coding skills write these applications? Can you think of a good one for me?
I tend to agree with Mark. I’ve given up on Ecademy, I don’t perceive any real value in the monthly fee.
Also, being very time starved and now a bit of an oldie too (well not that old but definitely not very young) I choose very carefully where I network on line and still am wary of FB. Given the comments above I might have to have another look.
I must say i find myself disagreeing with this article. I am on both Facebook and Linkedin however for business I only use Linkedin. If I were to take the time out to transfer my contacts details out of Facebook I could close it without losing any sleep.
The two platforms are designed for different uses – one social – one business. I’m not interested in sharing with my clients the activities of last weekend and I’d rather not know theirs. I am happy to share my business thoughts and ideas however and Linkedin does that just fine.
There are now applications coming online for Lnkedin so it isn’t the dead end road that it might have seemed once.
Good article but I don’t agree!
Regards
Stephen
http://www.edenchanges.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenlhart
I totally agree with Stephen. I’ve had a FB account for some time – I live abroad and it’s a great way to keep in touch with my friends but I certainly don’t want to use it for professional contacts.
Lee
I have a LinkedIn account that I rarely use — the people I’m connected to don’t update their own profiles so the whole thing seems dated. The professional question area is quite nice though. Hard to imagine that on FB without juvenile comments getting in.
One cool app on FB is iLike, a music sharing tab. It seems the closest to things to come. But until it’s easier to get notified of updates to events/groups FB won’t have a more professional sharing area.
FB does allow grouping of friends which can separate professional from personal, but I’m not sure one can post updates to just one group.
Just a couple of points to add to what is turning into an interesting thread:
1) The whole point of the FB ‘PLATFORM’ is to create applications that run separately, but can work from one common set of data. So in effect you could easily contain all your business contacts within a walled garden.
2) Most experienced sales professionals and most large organizations understand the value and importance of customer intimacy and breaking through the home / work divide is a big objective. That is why you take your best clients to Formula One or for a weekend away in France with the spouses. It is not bribery (as some would claim), it’s about creating a relationship that goes into private life too.
So I find it strange that some people (above) can’t grasp the potential of NOT keeping their work and personal contacts separate. Looks like a real gift horse to me!
I am curious how your business is using applications on facebook in order to connect with consumes. I have discussed that possibility with my friends, but none of us who use facebook understand how that would be worthwhile… Also I do feel that LinkedIN provides many things that facebook doesn’t and you said about 8 million users? But in 2008 it recorded over 23 million users and growing each month by about 1 million. LinkedIN is more beneficial to the consumer which means that it will grow versus Facebook which perhaps is beneficial to the business but losing credibility with users.