Do You Facebook or Link(ed)In?

Yes and YES. I've been Facebooking since last summer and Link[ing]In for a few years. And I've never MySpace[d] and probably never will.

What's the difference between these sites? Very briefly, the purpose for all three sites is to network and create connections with people you know. With Facebook and MySpace, it's all about your social network. With LinkedIn, it's all about your professional network. Facebook and LinkedIn tend to draw in an older crowd, while MySpace attracts the younger generation.

I will be honest. My foray into Facebook was driven more by curiosity than a need to connect. I wanted to see if Facebook could be used effectively to drive community, and then, from a technology perspective, I wanted to experience a Web 2.0+ application firsthand (for both professional and personal reasons). It's the product manager in me acting out.

Facebook Fast Facts

Here's a few statistics about one of the Web's fastest growing and trafficked sites (#6 overall):

• 61 million active users (within last 30 days)
• 250,000 registrations (avg) per day
• The U.S. political candidates are registered (have you been watching the debates?)
• Fastest growing demographic is 25 or older
• #1 photo sharing application on the Web (~14 million photos uploaded daily)
• Over 7,000 applications built by the Facebook community (that's us)
• U.S., Canada and U.K. have the most users

Check out who's behind the Facebook curtain: Facebook Company Bios. Have these guys even graduated? What "kids" will do.

LinkedIn Fast Facts

Now let's check out LinkedIn:

• Simple philosophy: Relationships matter. Your professional relationships are key to your professional success.
• Over 17 million professional users
• Over 150 industries represented
• Shows "degrees of separation" between connections
• A hotbed for recruiters

In contrast to Facebook's wizards of Oz, check out LinkedIn's team: LinkedIn Management. A very different crowd. It looks like these folks have graduated.

My Profile Pages

If this online networking stuff is new to you, check out my profile pages. If you want, add me as a friend in Facebook or as a contact in LinkedIn. Note the subtle terminology difference.

• My Facebook Profile (you need to be registered to see my full profile)
• My LinkedIn Profile

These links are also available in the sidebar of my blog. Kewl stuff!