Last updated on January 31st, 2023 at 06:53 pm
LinkedIn has gotten several reviews as regards its social media status.
There have been arguments to support that LinkedIn is a social media platform and motions to counter the notion of LinkedIn being social media.
Have you ever wondered what LinkedIn really is?
You can get the answers to your questions concerning LinkedIn and its social media status by reading through this article.
Find out interesting facts that will inform your stand on whether LinkedIn is social media or not.
Facts About LinkedIn
LinkedIn as a platform was founded at the end of 2002 by Reid Hoffman and a team of professionals.
It was officially launched in May of the following year.
The platform has an active membership of over 800 million as of February of 2022 and a net worth of over 150 million US dollars.
It is an American-based virtual service providing company that has its headquarters in California.
LinkedIn is a platform that offers its users a professional interactive environment. At its core, LinkedIn has a strong sense of professionalism.
However, people are of the opinion that this element is evolving.
This is based on the idea that the recent introduction of personal stories that are not career-related is gradually reducing the strictly professional sense that is employed by the users of the platform.
A lot of companies have made use of the platform to advertise job vacancies and review applicants. As a matter of fact, the largest part of the revenue generated by LinkedIn is from advertisements made by companies.
Currently, your LinkedIn profile can serve as a resumé and can land you a high-paying job as recruiters are constantly open to connecting and interacting with service providers on LinkedIn.
Is LinkedIn social media? Giving a simple “Yes” or “No” answer to this question would not suffice to effectively answer the question.
To say “Yes” is to provide reasons why LinkedIn may be categorized as social media. The same goes with supporting the motion that LinkedIn should not be placed in the category of social media.
How LinkedIn is Not Social Media
There are a few reasons why the claim that LinkedIn is not social media can be accurate.
Professionalism
As earlier established, LinkedIn has a strictly professional environment. This for many persons makes it hard to relate to the platform as social media.
Unlike platforms like Facebook, and Twitter, relating and sharing personal stories does not characterize the LinkedIn environment.
The missing element of personal stories can question the sociability of the platform. Well, how can a platform be referred to as social media if it does fit and is referred to as “sociable”?
Career-Centric
LinkedIn is a career-centred platform that has little or no room for personal relationships.
There is a string of civility as the platform is focused on career building and advancement. Thousands of people make use of the platform for job hunting.
This is why it can be pretty safe for agencies and companies to go to LinkedIn to search for potential staff for their company.
The platform has a learning program which is the LinkedIn Learning platform which is aimed at equipping individuals and companies to do better at their businesses.
This makes it super difficult to associate a platform such as this that seems as a work arena to be social media.
The accounts of users in the platform can and has at different occasions served as resumes.
The whole networking that ensues on the platform is all to serve the bigger motive of advancing one’s career and building a profitable business.
In Comparison to Other Social Media
Using other social media such as Instagram, Facebook etc. as a yardstick for measurement will only serve to make it hard to categorize LinkedIn as social media platform if we go by the element of ease, fun, heavy visuals, social banter, and humanity, art etc.
LinkedIn is considerably low in all these elements in comparison to other platforms referred to as “Social Media”.
How LinkedIn is Social Media
Now, it is well understood why the idea of referring to LinkedIn as social media may not ring true to many people.
However, there is still a valid reason why LinkedIn can be categorized as social media.
In honesty, the real thing is a comparison of LinkedIn to other social media and its absence of the human touch that makes the tag “Social” seem right.
The limited presence or absence of art, culture and humanity is a general can be a valid argument as to why the social media tag of the platform should be questioned.
This notwithstanding, by description, LinkedIn fits into a category of social media referred to as “Social Networking”.
LinkedIn, though a professional platform, is equally a social networking site.
At its core, there is as much human interaction as any other platform referred to as ” Social Media”. Its style of interaction, language and mode of operation may differ from other social platforms.
Networking, interaction, building profitable relationships, learning etc. are all components of a good social networking platform and these are all basic elements that characterize the LinkedIn platform.
Therefore, the platform can be categorized as social media on account that it is a social networking site that allows for communication between its members, mentorship and tutelage.
LinkedIn stands out as one of the most active business-friendly platforms in the recent decade.
Taking a cue from the way things are currently going on the platform, it is only a matter of time before its high level of professionalism is completely reduced to accommodate other social elements that are missing.
Which in many opinions will not be a good thing.
Is LinkedIn Social Media FAQs
What is LinkedIn used for?
LinkedIn is a platform that grants you access to millions of business-minded people who are interested in leveraging the platform to build business brands and advertise services they can provide.
So, LinkedIn is a business-oriented network.
If you wish to add a link to your other social media accounts, you can do so on LinkedIn.
You have the option of adding links to other social media sites on your summary section in your profile if you are comfortable with this.
You can do this by including a link to another social media account when making a post on LinkedIn.
The major difference between LinkedIn and other social media is that LinkedIn unlike other social media is a professional networking site.
It has less art and humanities. It is focused on business and career building and operates by a strong culture of civility and professionalism.
Therefore, the touch of personal stories and heavy visuals is missing.
Conclusion
LinkedIn can be categorized as a social network which is an example of social media by virtue of the basic elements of communication and interaction.
However, of its functionality, many experts believe that LinkedIn does not fit into the category of Social Media for different reasons.
It is all a thing of opinion backed up by certain facts. You can decide which of the side as it affects the response to the question that you would choose to go with.
The social media status of LinkedIn can only affect the culture of the app, it does not affect the efficiency of the platform and how you can maximize the platform for your good.
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