Hoffman is right to make a distinction between social and professional networking sites, but LinkedIn is still about putting your personal self above all else, much like Facebook. It's just that everyone on LinkedIn is thinking about their career first.

I call it a site for people in business, but not a business networking site. It's impossible to find on the site new companies that you may want to deal unless you know a name; and harder still to form valuable new connections with unknown staff at potential customers or suppliers, as LinkedIn recommends you do NOT accept invitations from people you don't know.

What sort of business networking is that? In the real world, it would be like attending a networking event and being told not to talk to strangers.

Ian Hendry
CEO, WeCanDo.BIZ
http://www.wecando.biz

I thought it was mildly amusing and even made a good point, especially about Farce-book!

I wonder if sites like Linkedin will take off during the recession. Will jobsites with social-ability flourish due to people looking for jobs?