I've been using LinkedIn as a passive repository of my face-to-face network. Occasionally, people find out we have a common acquaintance and that's fun to know. Not a life changing application for me.
I've been wondering whether I should/could use LinkedIn in more ways. Friends told me that they find/receive CVs of interesting candidates through LinkedIn. Get in touch with conference organisors etc. A new teacher at the Masters was found through LinkedIn contacts.
Though I never have to find candidates for vacancies, we recently looked for a partner for a consultancy, using our good old face-to-face network. We found a great one, but it would have been a nice experiment to try and use LinkedIn.
Commoncraft has made a video about LinkedIn. (their videos hardly need to be spread as they are widely known by now). However, I liked this video about LinkedIn because it doesn't explain the basics of LinkedIn but explains how you can use LinkedIn to facilitate your work.
In my blog I share about learning design with technology, blended learning & knowmad learning. I started with a focus on communities of practice. I share personal experiences, articles and cases.
I also wonder whether Linkedin and other networks such as Xing could be used better. So far I added people after conferences in the hope to connect later on. But I have not grasp the potential yet. Do you have experiences how second contacts out of you network react on requests? I ask because it seems to me more business driven and maybe not as open as the blogger world. :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Christian, I haven't explored it myself either (nor been contacted!) but I know from other sectors (like a friend in the pharmaceutical industry) that it is used there and a very 'normal' instrument
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