LinkedIn applications: Too little, too late

29.10.2008
Wednesday's email brought this announcement of applications from :

Today we're announcing many more ways to interact with your network on LinkedIn. Whether it's a new way to create projects and collaborate, share information, customize your profile, or gain key insights, the new LinkedIn Applications deliver.

You may have had the same thought I did.

So what?

I've been a member of LinkedIn since the service started. And the fact is, I don't really interact with my network on LinkedIn. I can count on one hand the number of times I've contacted someone using the service. Other tools such as email, blogs, Facebook, and Twitter have largely supplanted it for me.

With about and in 2008 from the subscription services they offer, LinkedIn is profitable. But it has nowhere near the buzz of newer startups like Facebook, with over 60 million members and . It may be an excellent place to connect with people, find a job, or recruit employees, but I don't believe that introducing -- all of which are available already elsewhere -- is going to drastically change that situation.