LinkedIn

[BigV]

This site, LinkedIn is a service that claims to connect professionals through a six degrees of separation kind of point of view. Here is their self description:

LinkedIn is an online network of more than 5 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 130 industries.

When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional accomplishments. Your profile helps you find and be found by former colleagues, clients, and partners. You can add more connections by inviting trusted contacts to join LinkedIn and connect to you.

Your network consists of your connections, your connections’ connections, and the people they know, linking you to thousands of qualified professionals.

I signed up recently, in an effort to expand my contact in my search for work, and in the process, I was surprised to learn that six people with whom I have previously corresponded professionally are already members. Now my "network" of one became a "network" of six. Not bad for the first click out of the gate.

By the way, this is an endorsement that could have just as easily landed in the "Cool Links" thread, but I thought it deserved more discussion. I am interested in the service, I'm trying it out, but I am in no way being compensated for doing so. [/"I am not a criminal" disclaimer]

Are there any other users out there? I would be open to exchanging invitations with other members. It never hurts to expand one's personal network of contacts. If you're interested, please send me a PM and we'll continue the conversation from there. No one's email address or other personal information needs to be published publicly.

For those of you that are not yet members, you should review the site. I have and found it very professional and informative. The interface seems to be well thought out and I haven't had any problems yet, and that includes sensing whether or not my data is being collected for distribution. That's a big issue for me, perhaps to my detriment, as I have described elsewhere.

Any takers? Interested? If so, send me a private message. If you have any public comments or questions on the services, well, that's what this thread is for.