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Ever since its launch back in May 2003, LinkedIn has continued to stress out the fact that it is a special social networking service for professionals only. Although LinkedIn doesn’t consider it a strict rule that forbids non-professional members from registering, LinkedIn shouldn’t be used the same other social networking sites are used. The two reasons provided below explain in greater detail.

LinkedIn’s Network is Full of Professionals

LinkedIn considers itself as a social networking site of professionals simply because virtually all of the members registered are, in fact, professional individuals. These professionals log in their respective LinkedIn accounts to collaborate with other LinkedIn members or search for new professionals for job hiring, competition research, and other purposes. Nobody will ever look for information that doesn’t pertain to professional records or information. If these people really wanted to look for information like that, they would resort to general purpose social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

Since LinkedIn states in their front page that they are a professional social networking service, more professionals will join everyday to build their network. Nobody would bother adding a contact that has no professional background whatsoever. To add to that, professionals will most likely ignore you if they find out that you are in LinkedIn to make friends or gather personal information because that is out of the scope of the network.

Puts your Reputation at Great Risk

LinkedIn is the only website with millions of registered users that revolves around professionals. This gives you a single chance to build your professional image and show it to the world. If you mess up and do not take LinkedIn seriously, people that see your profile will conclude that you are a not a very serious professional. This will make it difficult to redeem yourself as there is currently no other popular professional social networking site that works like LinkedIn. Make your entry in LinkedIn count the most by starting out with a strong profile that can boost your reputation in the network.

No Benefits Gained

It is generally a waste of time and effort spreading a non-professional image in a place filled with people that do the exact opposite. Nothing will ever be gained out of the attempts because non-professionalism is considered as off-topic within the network. If you observe the different profiles and discussion boards, only business topics are covered.

Remember that there are appropriate places where you can freely use the social network however you would like. LinkedIn is one of the most unique services that strive to be different from the rest and that is exactly why they have gained so much popularity and success as new members register every day. It is the professionals themselves that defined LinkedIn’s true purpose and you can become a part of that purpose if you understand LinkedIn’s goals and make them your own as you try to spread your professionalism and grow your network by adding contacts with similar professional interests as you.