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Social networking is one of the most popular activities amongst Internet surfers around the world. The sheer number of social networking sites really shows how popular they are and more networks continue to rise and evolve. LinkedIn and Facebook are two of the earlier networks introduced in 2003 and 2004 respectively and expanded quickly just years later. Both networks now have millions of registered users, yet have different goals for their members. The two networks also differ in features as well making it necessary for some to join both networks.
Objectives
Facebook is one of the many social networking sites that aim to bring people of all ages closer to each other. New members have their own profile where contacts that they know personally can be added so they become part of the network. As contacts, information can be exchanged and various social activities can be engaged online.
LinkedIn takes the same objectives of Facebook and restricts them to professional users only. This is why Facebook has many more registered members than LinkedIn, but LinkedIn still manages to reach over 40 million members. LinkedIn aims to let professions connect with one another and engage in business activities and discussions. Usually members add others that they know personally, former colleagues, or current officemates.
Features
Facebook allows different types of multimedia content to be shared including videos and pictures for entertainment purposes. LinkedIn doesn’t have many media sharing features although it still allows profile pictures to be uploaded for professional usage. Blog entries may also be linked to the profile although it is recommended that business blogs are linked.
Facebook is very famous for their databases of thousands of applications created by independent developers and are often used to make social interactions more interesting and fun. LinkedIn has its own version of interacting that is interesting in its own right with the Q&A module. The function works similarly to Yahoo! Answers where people can post business related questions allowing other people in the network to answer.
Similarities
Because they are both social networking sites, Facebook and LinkedIn have similar features, but are used differently. For instance, both Facebook and LinkedIn have the groups feature which allows members to create their own group based on a theme and have other members join the group to find a common ground. Facebook serves as the general purpose while LinkedIn is more inclined to business discussions. Custom web pages for the purpose of promoting products, services, or events can also be made in Facebook while LinkedIn users can create company profiles which can be used for hiring jobseekers doubling the function of LinkedIn as a job directory.
To sum things up, Facebook is the larger network where everyone is invited to create their own profiles, socialize, and possibly engage in business related activities. Internet marketers see opportunities to promote their websites as well. LinkedIn is a better place to do business activities because it encourages professionals to join resulting to more productive ideas to be shared and less emphasis on personal features.
