LinkedIn: Growing this fast?
Can this be right?
At least once a day, I hop on LinkedIn to see what's going on. (OK, call me an addict; at least I don't twitch...any longer.) On the front page, there's usually some [old] industry news, followed by info about what my contacts are up to, followed by how many new people are in my network. I usually gloss over all this information....except tonight when I read:
"1,005,595 new people in your network since February 13"
One million new people in my network since yesterday? Whhhaaa?
Now granted, I have 279 connections on LinkedIn. I'm not an open-networker, though I'll admit I have one or two LIONs in my list. Most of the people that I have as contacts I have met face-to-face, or at the very least via continued conversation on LinkedIn or via email. But all that aside, is it really possible one million more people are accessible to me since yesterday?
Curious if other LinkedIn folks are seeing their networks grow as such (not necessarily by that specific number, but more generally by leaps and bounds).
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I've not noticed any jumps
I've not noticed any jumps like that... this is what mine says right now:
"83,439 new people in your network since February 13".
That is sort of typical... anywhere from 30k to 100k,
I've got a few more connections, and quite a few are LIONs, although I probably have about 400 people who I've met in person, by phone or email. A lot of the latter two categories are recruiters.
83K seems a bit more
83K seems a bit more reasonable than 1M. I have observed similar, which is why I typically gloss over the numbers.
It's funny that LI provides a link for that report. "Yes, I would like to browse through the latest 83,000 additions to my network."
Matt
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When I was first on
When I was first on LinkedIn, that link was actually pretty useful to browse through since I'd often find people in it that I knew but hadn't yet found on LinkedIn. Back then it was in the hundreds or small thousands, now when its routinely as large as it is, its just too overwhelming to look at.
Mine has 18K since my last
Mine has 18K since my last login of February 1.
Could be one of those things that starts blowing up exponentially once you get so many 1st degree contacts ... and how many new contacts they have, etc.?
Or it could be a bug. :-D
A bug is entirely
A bug is entirely possible... However, one of your first or 2nd level contacts adding a LION or three all of a sudden could cause your network to spike pretty quickly if there was little or no crossover between your existing network. That just becomes a lot less likely the larger your number of 1st degree contacts gets I think.
I consistently have 20-30-40
I consistently have 20-30-40 thousand new contacts in my network on a daily basis - and I only have 90 directs, 18.4K 2nds and 1.6M+ 3rds. Think about it a little - it's the power of numbers. If just every 3rd added 1 contact a day....
I can buy that... but I'd
I can buy that... but I'd still certainly be a little surprised if LinkedIn told me that my network suddenly went up by 1 million+...
yep, I am sure their math
yep, I am sure their math algorithms are not *always* perfect!
It's like the old Breck
It's like the old Breck commercial.. "She told two friends and they told two friends and so on...."
It really is kind of amazing
It really is kind of amazing how many people are on LinkedIn. I've tried to get as many people as I know to connect. I've had pretty good luck with people already using LinkedIn, less so with people who don't. A few of the successes I've had though have taken off and built pretty impressive networks, but a lot of them are 'leaf' nodes or nearly so.
I'm always surprised to see
I'm always surprised to see which people I know have really extensive networks on LinkedIn versus none at all. I always run across people who I have known in a professional setting that I would expect to have a huge network of hundreds -- but are linked to less than 10 people.
IMO, there are LinkedIn-type
IMO, there are LinkedIn-type networkers and the old fashion type - some do both well and some do one or the other. You have to work at both, but it is easier to work the online version at any hour of the day - and you don't really have to have good interactive skills like you do in the face-to-face world. And also, IMO, the old fashion one is probably the most beneficial.
That is why I think the
That is why I think the meeting events are beneficial because it allows people to bridge the gap between online and old fashioned networking.
I think some people who are
I think some people who are heavily networked in meatspace don't make much effort to work their LinkedIn network.
Meatspace: define?
Meatspace: define?
As opposed to the 'virtual
As opposed to the 'virtual world'... 'meatspace' means where people have physical bodies.
Ahh ok - got it. I are
Ahh ok - got it. I are slow.
I prefer my meatspace at Rudy's BBQ.
Matt
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Well, Rudy's is O.K. for
Well, Rudy's is O.K. for "fast food" BBQ... but far from the best around...
My personal network was
My personal network was pretty pitiful before I found LinkedIn and door64.com. I'm trying to take advantage of the events so that I can put faces to screen names. Otherwise, the 2nd and 3rd levels of the LinkedIn network aren't much good.
Valerie Dennis
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/vcd0826
Blog: http://thinking.ivalerie.com