LinkedIn Hits 50 Million Users; Still a Roach Motel (Updated)
Updated at 11:30 PST with comment from LinkedIn. One million new people signed up for LinkedIn accounts already this month, taking the professional social network past the 50 million user mark. LinkedIn has some of the most valuable user data in all of social networking, not just because its members are disproportionately wealthy, but because the site is one of the only places you can find a person's occupational information and history.
"What do you do for a living" is one of the most potent questions a person can be asked and online that means LinkedIn. Unfortunately, in this era of data portability and connected social networks, LinkedIn isn't playing very nicely.
Every time I see a new social application online I think "it sure would be nice if a person's job title and employer were displayed along side their profile on this service." Where is that information? LinkedIn! Who won't let startups access that info? LinkedIn!
Programmatic access to LinkedIn data is reserved for a very select few high-profile API partners. The company appears to operate under the assumption that only heavyweight partners could move the needle for its bottom line, not a thriving ecosystem of independent innovators. Hardly surprising for a company that spends so much of its time in public talking about how wealthy its users are.
FriendFeed used to include updates to your LinkedIn profile in the activity streams it displayed. That was great, but there was nothing official going on - FriendFeed was scraping LinkedIn. When LinkedIn added a layer of obfuscation over its HTML, FriendFeed took the hint and stopped, the now Facebook-owned company says.
Why not make LinkedIn all the more valuable by making it the currency that social sites all around the web make us of? Would that not drive all the more people to LinkedIn itself, to fill out their profiles there? It's possible that LinkedIn has done a serious analysis of the benefits of a developer ecosystem vs. very limited partnerships and come to the conclusion that it has - but it still seems like a real shame.
Imagine the innovation that could be made possible by developer access to LinkedIn!
Congratulations to LinkedIn for hitting 50 million users. Now please open up the data! Otherwise we'll have to cheer for a more open competitor to challenge your dominance in this market.
Update: Adam Nash, Vice President, Search & Platform Products at LinkedIn, says things are set to improve in the future. Below in comments he writes: "Marshall, I think you'll be quite happy with our plans for improvements to our APIs. Stay tuned." Fantastic! Let's see what you've got, Adam.
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No way will LinkedIn ( or Facebook ) ever abandon their roach motel business model.
...doing so would mean they will have to innovate, be awesome, compete with other services.
Nevertheless LinkedIn is still the most respected network among top-level corporate folk and often the only one they use. Plus, it's the best source for hiring high qualified / responsibility people.
"...LinkedIn is still the most respected network among top-level corporate folk and often the only one they use."
Mr. Antich that's the same tone Friendster used, almost verbatim, for its self description in 2003.
Friendster was first to market with a social network, used the roach motel business model, then sat in its laurels and failed to innovate arrogantly citing they were "most used", "best".
Worked out really well for them, huh?
I'm in no way affiliated with LinkedIn but know for a fact it's usefulness for hiring and making contact with top-level people: something that no other network provides. That's their differentiator and that's what they've built their business model on, which seems to be quite successful.
I love LinkedIn as a social network. The networking, QA, business and event stuff really makes for a great network.
My biggest complain is the same as above. They aren't open enough.
I have contacted them about advertising as well as application development / partnering.
Advertising they straight out say you need to spend 25K + month or we don't talk to you.
I asked them about opening up their event system through the API and partnering with them on an application. I handle events for SAP and Google, and they said no...they weren't interested.
They could really take the network to the next level by opening up and creating a business ecosystem.
Yeah I like it too. I have found a large pool of contacts that are reliable in getting the word out.
~ Thanks for the post.
But I use LinkedIn _because_ people can't ask me to play "Mafia Wars" on it. Get in, get the info I need, get out. And I can export my own contact list just fine for a local backup under my control. What more do you need?
It's little-known, but there is an official RSS feed you can sign up for that shows you updates within your LinkedIn network:
- Click on 'Accounts and Settings' at the top of the page
- Click on 'Your Private RSS Feeds' on that page
- You'll see a private URL to your feed
We still desperately need an API of course!
Marshall, I think you'll be quite happy with our plans for improvements to our APIs. Stay tuned.
Adam
I have a lot of information on LinkedIn that for most part I choose where to share. I wouldn't want LinkedIn open, I don't need third party apps getting to that information.
Someone compared LinkedIn to Friendster. Maybe you should compared LinkedIn to Plaxo. Where is Plaxo now?
I think if LinkedIn shared the special sauce and allowed thrid party to gain information that would be the end of them.
Adam, that's great to hear!
"Someone compared LinkedIn to Friendster. Maybe you should compared LinkedIn to Plaxo. Where is Plaxo now?"
Dude - Plaxo *supports* data import/export!
Plaxo is huge, getting bigger everyday ...because they are not a roach motel. I believe you've just supported "my" point.
Indeed. LinkedIn promised to open up in early 2007 and keeps saying "Just wait till you see what's next".
It could have been the center of your online contacts if they let programs OAuth and import/export. That's the API that 90% of applications need: OAuth(user); getContacts(userid)->(userid, name, email hash); getInfo(userid)->(name, companyname, city, resume).
But, given their history, I'll believe it when I see it.
Guys, guys...
I can assure you as soon as Linkedin open up its data to anyone, everybody will flee Linkedin like it's got the swine flu. Most people there are professionals who don't want their personal info floating around to subsidize/monetize some type of flight-by-night start-up. Ever occured to you that it has 50 million users because of the privacy it maintains???
Bob,
That's the reason I mentioned OAuth. The idea isn't to open up linkedin. Instead, it's to give users control over their own data. To let them use their linkedin data in various programs, but only their own data, not letting startups copy the entire linkedin graph.
So, you'd authenticate who you are to linkedin and give 3rd-party apps permission to read *and write* to your addressbook. That would make linkedin 10x more useful to me (at least assuming gmail, highrise, etc would sync with it).
If it’s as Dan suggests, I can live with that. But not if it’s as Bob suggests. I like LinkedIn precisely because it doesn’t eff around with free virtual plants or pokes. It focuses on one thing: Business/professional contacts. I’m not there to socialize. It’s also private, and only people I know can connect. Lose that and you lose me. (And others I suspect.)
Adam Nash? Isn't this the guy that led eBay Express at eBay? Where is that product now?... what a jerk!
I have tried for two years to get Linkedin Data for our CRM tool. No one has responded. Linkedin is really afraid to open up because they have raised so much VC money and they realize they are not that special. I guess they won't respond to me now - they never were going to, so what do I have to loose.
LinkedIn is indeed sitting on a goldmine. And if it only added tools to the site to broker new relationships with people who have a need for what it is you offer then it's value to users would skyrocket.
But you are right to identify their "roach motel" attitude to data protability. It's actually worse than you may believe though. We have a tool on our site to enable users to fetch their LinkedIn contacts over to our Social CRM system and we received a cease and desist notice from LinkedIn trying to prohibit us using it. In fact, they use the very same tools to enable their users to fetch their Google, Windows Live and AOL contacts into LinkedIn. When we pointed out their hypocracy they backed down.
So they're happy for you to bring your own data over (and a significant number of those 50M users were invited to join using those tools), but then won't release it back to you through anything other than a primitive CSV export.
Ian Hendry
CEO, WeCanDo.BIZ
http://www.wecando.biz
Hey ! Interesting topic, but wrong focus.
My data stored on LinkedIn are MINE, for Heaven's sake, not Reid Hoffman's !
The only individual entitled to make a decision as to what to share with whom on my data is ME ! This comment is aimed at LinkedIn's management, but also to all the other carpers who whine because LI won't let them in the party.
Ask me, not LI! Show me you respect my right to privacy by offering me something for my valuable data, and I might consider it, otherwise sod off !
Posted by: sonofgeektalk.wordpress.com
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October 15, 2009 4:17 AM
I agree with Bill Green. I'm not there to socalize. I'm there for business connections. As with Bill, open it up and lose that focus and you'll lose me too! Just say no LI!!!
Good day, All,
As a professional Linkedin network user, I have to give you my 25 cents.
I have to agree with people like Bill. This network is used by professionals looking for progessionals. My business is my business and I will choose who I want to see it, and what it is I want them to see. I have made a great number of superb contacts on Linkedin since I joined. If I wanted to "socialize", I would have joined Twitter or Facebook. You won't find me there. My social life is "difinately" not your business.
My purpose on Linkedin is to make contacts in my field of expertise and those who might help me in my field. I am using it to broaden my horizens and improve my skills. If Linkedin decides to open my file and information to those whom I do not choose to give it to, they will lose me also.
This is the one place that I feel comfortable in puting myself out in front of the professional community without the fear of some 3rd party getting my information and trying to contact me about something that I have no desire to purchase or participate in.
Obviously, those of you who are not happy with Linkedin have some use for it, or you wouldn't be here. PLEASE, let's keep one site sacred for those who choose to try to improve their progessional careers and not flaunt their social life. Let's leave that on Twitter, Facebook or some other social networking tool.
Thanks for reading. Have a great day, and remember, you only get one day at a time!!!! Make the most of it!
If people want social networking, let them choose Facebook, Twitter or something else. For sure, if LinkedIn changes their model to open up my information, then I will be deactivating my account and choose no other for professional networking.
Maybe the people who use LinkedIn, like me, do not want their information shared with the business world. What I like about LinkedIn is that I don't get any junk mail. I'd hope that the LinkedIn folks would continue to respect members' privacy decisions.
Personally I like the fact that LinkedIn is somewhat "closed" because I don't get a lot of spammers and unsolicited business requests.
Walled gardens eventually collapse under their own weight (AOL, the Well, Friendster) but until the very end can generate a stampede of me-too members. How many of the people who currently use Twitter or LinkedIn really know how to use those services? As long as LinkedIn can generate traffic it will refuse to give it's API away without first striking a bargain. And maybe that's how it ought to be.
I agree with the users that want Linked In to stay the way it is. Slowly changing as it's community requires.
Above all maintaining privacy!
The 50 million users are probably the most valuable people on the internet since we are the business minds and deal makers.
We are not 300 million Facebookers playing Mafia Wars.
Just because something is on the internet does not mean it has to be wide open for all to see. The lesson of Pandora's box.
Next you will propose open access to Salesforce, since it is an internet app.
OK so it may not be the most open platform in the world, but who says it has to be open to survive? As an ardent end user I find it's one of the most useful tools on the web. It's totally indispensable.
It is definitley the respected network among top-level corporate and with the added advantage of hiring very good individuals!