Can Facebook Really Threaten LinkedIn?

Welcome to episode 138, this week I thought I would address the issue that many are talking about…Facebook’s perceived threat to LinkedIn. Facebook Vs LinkedIn As far as I see it, Facebook will never be a realistic alternative to LinkedIn for online business networking. This however, is not a view held by all and the debate has recently resurfaced due to Facebook's entry into the job advertising market as well as the publication of a recent survey which suggests that C-suite executives are more likely to get thought leadership articles from Facebook. Read the article here; Senior executives use Facebook more than LinkedIn when seeking thought leadership, report suggests You will find a link in the above article where you can download the full report from Grist but the main sections I refer to are below.

The most important number here is that only 28% of C-level executives source leadership material from social media.

It is surprising but out of the 28%, more are influenced by Facebook but in truth we are only talking about 44 versus 38 executives. I can't imagine a world where we are comfortable engaging with business Contacts, Family members and personal friends from the same profile and on the same network. That's my view but I'm not saying I'm right! I would love to hear your views on the subject. Let me know by sending a voicemail via the link on the right edge of this page or you can email me at mark@linkedinformed.com. LinkedIn’s Q3 Results

These results showed a continued slowing of LinkedIn growth to just 23% in comparison to the same period last year.

LinkedIn could be banned in Russia Interesting report suggesting that the 6 million members in Russia could be frozen out of the site unless LinkedIn can negotiate some sort of solution….I think they probably will. You read the full article below; LinkedIn faces ban in Russia after court ruling

Question: I have a list of approximately 5000 first degree connections but I have never kept in touch with them or indeed kept on top of them. I'm now looking at this massive list and wondering how I should engage with them. I would like to introduce them to a new products that I have but I obviously don't want it to be spammy. That said, sending out an individual messages to all of them will be impractical. What do you think is the simplest, most practical and least invasive way of getting my message out to these people? I answer this question in detail towards the end of this episode. Click on the play button at the top of this page to listen to the show.