Now LinkedIn Will Be Featured in a Lot More Apps

LinkedIn has opened up its platform to developers. It can be accessed at developer.linkedin.com.

"Over fifty million users entrust their professional identities and relationships with LinkedIn, helping build LinkedIn into the largest global professional network today," says LinkedIn' Adam Nash. "However, professionals around the world use a wide variety of applications and Web sites to get their work done, and they have spoken loud and clear that they want the ability to leverage their professional networks wherever they work."

Now developers can integrate LinkedIn into their business applications. LinkedIn's developer site has APIs and widgets.

"Over the past months, LinkedIn has supported integrations with some of the most prominent and critical software applications in the enterprise," says Nash. "Partnerships with companies like IBM, Blackberry (Research in Motion), and most recently Microsoft, have given us time to invest in both functionality and scalability of the platform."

Developers interested in using LinkedIn in their apps need only fill out a form at the site. The LinkedIn platform leverages the open OAuth standard, so integrations should be that much more simple.

On a related note, Twitter client TweetDeck is already utilzing the LinkedIn platform. They just announced that you can view or take action on your LinkedIn network updates from within the TweetDeck application.

It should be interesting to see the kinds of apps that start taking advantage of LinkedIn's APIs. This could turn out to be a very significant event for increasing business networking, and even matching prospective job candidates with jobs.

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In Some Ways Twitter is Better Than LinkedIn for Jobs

Twitter is a tool that can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. It can also mean a lot of different strategies and opportunities for a lot of different businesses. More and more companies and jobseekers alike are using the social network/microblogging platform as a way to find and fill jobs.

Traditionally, Twitter has been known as the network of choice for jobseekers. That role has been filled by LinkedIn. LinkedIn, however, is finding that other social networks are invading its territory to some extent. Just last month, we looked at a story from Fortune, claiming that recruiters were increasingly turning to Facebook to find job candidates. One reason for this is that Facebook offers a broader look at the candidate in many cases. People tend to be more in their natural element on Facebook than they do on LinkedIn, which is meant for business networking. This applies to Twitter too.

That's not to say that LinkedIn is having trouble maintaining usage. comScore recently reported that LinkedIn neared its all-time high in July, with about 8 million visitors. That's a 66% increase from the year before. 

 Twitter is gaining momentum in an industry where LinkedIn has been thriving for some time though - the jobs industry. This topic was explored in a recent Mercury News article. "Accessible by computer or cell phones, Twitter can be used to post a job, poke around for one, bone up on a potential boss, or simply keep your friends updated on your job hunt," says Mercury's Patrick May. "It's free and it's fast. And while social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn focus on connecting you with people you know, Twitter makes it easier to broadcast messages widely and to form groups of common interest. By 'following' others and having them follow you, the conversations quickly multiply."

And there is certainly no shortage of tweeting going on. Twitter appeared to suffer a temporary slip in tweets in August, but that is likely due to some denial-of-service attacks that occurred in that time, causing interruptions (more than normal) in the Twitterverse. Numbers for September looked more positive, showing tweeting on the rise again. As we make our way out of recession and more companies begin to hire, you can bet on Twitter playing a vital role in the filling of a great many positions.

Facebook Creeping In on LinkedIn’s Territory?

According to comScore, one of the fastest growing online categories over the past year has been Job Search. This is not surprising news by any means.

comScore's Andrew Lipsman says that Job Search is up 33% vs. a year ago, and it reached 23.1 million visitors in July. Lipsman also says there is one site that isn't even in the Job Search category that has been standing out for the same reason - LinkedIn. According to comScore data, LinkedIn neared its all-time high in July, with about 8 million visitors, a 66% increase from the year before.

Everybody knows LinkedIn is heavily used as a business networking tool, and that people use it when they need a job. It is frequently used by businesses for recruiting.

LinkedIn may have to worry about Facebook cramping its style however. Jessica Shambora, writing for Fortune, says that recruiters are increasingly looking to Facebook to find job candidates. One reason for this is that Facebook offers a broader look at the candidate in many cases, than a LinkedIn profile does. Facebook usually caters to people in their more natural element. Shambora writes:

For one thing, Facebook seems to cast a wider net and provide recruiters with more references – and more outlets to spread the news about a job opening. Facebook users have an average of 120 friends. While LinkedIn won’t release this statistic for its members, recruiters say the average number of connections likely is smaller because of the site’s narrower scope.

The types of relationships and contacts found in a personal network versus a professional one are also assumed to be more authentic and less transactional, and therefore more desirable to marketers. And while Facebook members now span all ages and demographics, the average age of its users is 31, compared to 41-years-old for LinkedIn.

She says that professional and personal lines are blurring more, and that the fear is going away as people become more comfortable with sharing their lives online. That's an interesting concept, given that social media is frequently still costing people their jobs, and likely preventing them from finding new ones in many cases.

Facebook certainly has its privacy settings, but it seems that it if recruiters are looking more to Facebook, as they have been LinkedIn, those looking for work may still want to reserve some judgment about what they post.