LinkedIn is becoming a very social platform

LinkedIn has been the world’s resume database for years, but has it turned a significant corner to social? It benefits from what Alistair Croll refers to being “the new DMV“…everyone has to go there. The value of that phenomena to a single, business-focused website almost can’t be overstated.

This came into very sharp focus over the past two weeks in a couple of significant events. First, two conversations we posted to the HIMSS and Harvard Business Review Groups achieved a remarkable number of comments and really good conversation. Ask something highly relevant and then hang on. We learned great things we never expected from crowdsourcing a couple of simple questions.

Remarkable civility

There was great involvement, passion and (for the most part) remarkable civility. Because our professional profile sits alongside our comments, LinkedIn lacks the extremes found on so many other platforms. That alone is invaluable for crowdsourcing, taking the public’s temperature, and just getting great feedback on an idea.

Knowing this it seems only a matter of time before third-party identification management, currently dominated by Facebook and Twitter, starts favoring LinkedIn authentication that puts a professional identity alongside a question or comment…far more powerful than a Facebook or Twitter profile.

In another milestone, we received our first request to help someone transfer money out of a foreign country because of terrible personal circumstances. LinkedIn is important enough to fall victim to scammers…that surely means something.

All things in moderation

And before you begin posting away, know that LinkedIn works where the content is topical and moderated. Sign up for open groups and you’ll probably see lots of spam. white. Likewise, groups that allow automatic posting of content without oversight are not the place to join. A well-moderated forum is the only way to maintain a high content and conversational standard. LinkedIn makes that easy.

And moderation goes beyond content. The best groups use the ‘flag as inappropriate’ as a monitored queue to watch out for ad hominem attacks and spam from piling up. It’s just as essential as watching what’s shared.

SuccessfulWorkplace Group

And while we’re on the topic, we’re excited to announce the SuccessfulWorkplace LinkedIn Group. We hope to see you there. Be a little patient as we come up to speed, but we are committed to running a group where we’d be happy to a member.