Social Networks for Work & Play?

With the phenomenal growth taking place at Facebook (supercharged as of late thanks to its openness to 3rd party applications), one can’t help but wonder if this will be the place that all Social and even Professional interactions will take place.

Echoing the thoughts of Linkedin founder, Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn CEO Dan Nye believes that there will be one place for social networking and another for professional networking.

According to an recent interview with Fortune Magazine, Mr. Nye points out that people will want to keep their personal and professional lives separate.

After the inevitable social net shakeout, Nye says, Facebook and MySpace will remain standing and will compete to supply an outlet for personal self-expression and community. Meanwhile, in the Nye/Hoffman scenario, LinkedIn will dominate the business of business networking — serving as a “productivity tool,” used for professional reference checking, recruiting, and to get expert advice.

Currently that assertion seems to hold true. However, with Facebook’s recent “re-launch” to include 3rd party applications, I’m seeing a lot more professionals connecting with their colleagues on the social platform. Clearly this is for social interaction. However, it’s not hard to imagine Facebook becoming a place for people to store resumes, share information about job openings and to learn about potential employers.

So What? Personally, I think LinkedIn has much more to lose here than Facebook. LinkedIn needs to continue to innovate and provide a reason for users to keep coming back. At the moment, the site is great place for finding and keeping professional contacts, finding and offering job listings and “answering” questions.

However, if LinkedIn hopes to add new users and increase the number of return visits by those users, it needs to continue to innovate and add those “sticky” features that will keep users coming back. Professional photos might be a good start, so in 5 years I can remember what a classmate who reaches out for a job looks like.

Tags: Facebook, LinkedIn, Dan Nye, Reid Hoffman

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