LinkedIn, developed in 2003, is a networking social media tool that connects prominent professionals with their respective fields of operation within varied industries, intending to enable professional communication, mentorship, and potential job opportunities (Crant, 2014). Moreover, LinkedIn is a platform businesses use to market their products and services to recruit potential employees and interact with a large audience. The platform has over 600 million users globally, thus making it an effective tool for career development (Crant, 2014). The platform is available in various current-day libraries, and one common library identified in this paper is the New York Public Library, which uses LinkedIn to interact with the community and stakeholders by sharing its programs, services, and essential occasions relevant to its audience. The purpose of this study is to analyze the scope of LinkedIn as a social media tool, discussing its areas of strength as well as weaknesses as a social media tool that enhances efficiency in social media interactions.
LinkedIn, as a social media tool, has effectively attained its purposes using various features such as allowing profiling of the users during networking, which acts as a digital resume to expose the users’ skills and work experience (Crant, 2004). A profile enables the various users to create meaningful interactions by ensuring that like-minded individuals connect by assessing the shape of their target firms and employers. In line with the study by Krug (2014), LinkedIn enables scanning through the various profiles to satisfy the user’s interests and preferences, thus choosing the reasonable option rather than the available professional option. In addition, LinkedIn is efficient because it allows messaging for the users to communicate directly; therefore, direct interaction is enabled, which is vital in sharing job opportunities between seekers and employers. This feature completes the purpose of Linked In as a social media tool, including a live real-time video that fosters interactions, job applications, and job sharing of crucial professional information. Also, LinkedIn has a company page and search options that ensure brands market their products and users can easily search the firms, thus ease of connecting with the desired and relevant firm, thus promoting the policy of navigation by Krug (2014).
Despite the effectiveness of LinkedIn as a social media tool using its special features, it has failed to serve its purpose in various aspects. For instance, LinkedIn has occasional cases of inactivity where certain users create their profiles and do not actively engage in the platform (Crant, 2004). Inactivity obstructs the potential of purposeful interactions and networking opportunities; thus, social interactions could be improved. In addition, LinkedIn also needs to improve in content overload, where there may be an excess amount of content shared, thus overcrowding the platform with unnecessary information. Krug (2014) argued that an efficient social media platform should have clear and concise information, and overloading the sites leads to sharing unimportant information, causing unnecessary traffic in the platform, which hinders its capability to attain its specific purpose of professional interactions. Another area of concern while using LinkedIn as a social media tool is privacy concerns, as the profiles have personal and professional information, which is prone to security breaches and misuse by other parties. Most professions may fear using LinkedIn as there is no assurance that the data is safely protected, and this poses a challenge to the platform as a social media tool to attain its specific purpose.
In conclusion, LinkedIn is a powerful social media tool for professionals, offering valuable features such as networking, profile creation, and direct messaging that enhance social interactions and career development. It connects individuals and businesses successfully, streamlining the job search process and providing a knowledge-sharing platform. The New York Public Library is a prime example of how libraries can effectively use LinkedIn to engage with their community. However, LinkedIn has limitations such as inactivity among users, content overload, and privacy concerns, which challenge its effectiveness. These issues can hinder the platform’s ability to facilitate meaningful interactions and networking opportunities.
References
Grant, J. (2014). Using LinkedIn to boost top financial careers. Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance, 25(3), 19–23. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jcaf.21935
Krug, S. (2014). How We Use the Web. Do not make me think, revisited: a common sense approach to Web usability 3e éd. Berkeley (CA): New Riders, pp. 20–7. https://medium.com/low-pass-filter/dont-make-me-think-4763547bc1cc
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