Okay so I’m going to stand on my soapbox regarding the current ego of LinkedIn. This is based on an article at CNNMoney. Granted LinkedIn is an amazing first generation social business network created by an entrepreneur and investor I deeply respect and look-up to Reid Hoffman. However, the article goes on and on about how the CEO Dan Nye feels Myspace and Facebook although titans in social networking will serve no other purpose than “self-expression and community.”
What they are forgetting is that LinkedIn is a 1st generation social networking platform (vertical) similar to Facebook and Myspace (but less social and non-verticals). LinkedIn may claim to own the business networking space but it cannot down play the fierce competition. I think in the social networking space, vertical shakeouts will occur within verticals. No, No this isn’t crazy talk. For instance, one might think that Startup Addict (SA) and LinkedIn compete. On the contrary they are very much symbiotic, in the sense business networking (a vertical) can fit in nicely with startup networking (another vertical witin the business networking vertical). Neither is too mutually exclusive and this niche verticalism will continue across the board in every sector, industry and sub-industry on the planet. Imagine how specific social networking for the medical sector could get.
LinkedIn has to be wary of being too cocky of the on-slaught of new competitor’s and competition; xing.com (just fined $1 million for underage signups) for instance. The vertical social networking space is far from established (social networking in general) say nothing of being conquered. Search engines in year 2001 where saying Google what? It is interesting to see LinkedIn grow at 180K/Week and Facebook 150K/day. Certainly shows the difference between defining a vertical and defining a space. Each has its’ own strength. One is an online rolodex and one is a platform. I hope you all feel Startup Addict is the platform for the Startup space.
About Tod Whipple
