The Biz of Coding

LinkedIn Goes Mobile

by Ujwal Tickoo on February 26th, 2008

Professional Social Networking Leader, LinkedIn, has announced support for mobile phones that are WAP enabled. Use this url on your mobile to access LinkedIn mobile http://m.linkedin.com/. Supported devices include blackberry and iPhone.

Features launched in the Beta include:

• Search LinkedIn profiles (including photos and bio)
• Research the common contacts of others to make real world referrals and introductions
• Send Invites to an email address to connect on LinkedIn.
• Receive regular Network update capabilities about your connections while on the go
• International versions currently launched include French, German, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese. More to follow.

2008 will see more activity on mobile social networking. I am looking forward to the launch of Yahoo! One Connect, which promises social network aggregation.

Mobility is going to help increase the rate at which LinkedIn network will grow. Busy executives tend to gather visiting cards but then sending emails is another set of activities. Increasing the LinkedIn user base is important to improve search quality for the company as they are trying to kick-in long tail effects…Adam Nash has written a good post on the LinkedIn Blog on this topic:

So many of our people-related search tasks today are hampered by a lack of granularity.  A hiring manager looking for the perfect candidate.  A business development manager looking for the perfect lead.  A journalist looking for the perfect source.

As LinkedIn grows in size, the ability to tap into the long tail of expertise grows, and with it, your ability to find exactly the set of experiences you are looking for. Those millions of members translate into hundreds of thousands of companies, thousands of degrees, and hundreds of industries across the globe. 

Whereas before you might have been satisfied with a simple search for product managers with previous experience as a software engineer, you can now search for a product manager with previous experience as a software engineer, in venture capital, an MBA, and who has worked for Apple, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, or eBay.  In my network, even this fairly specific query generates 14 results.

Facebook is trying to integrate professional benefits of networking by providing job profile details, hiring information etc. LinkedIn's mobility release will also help it in keeping its lead in professional social networking.

POSTED IN: Social Networks