in addition to #3 — LinkedIn chose to prioritize larger partners / monetization over other smaller partners / engagement & distribution. perhaps rational choices at the time, but i’d agree it hasn’t resulted in much activity on platform.

other issue is LinkedIn was concerned about developers/apps being too spammy (Facebook was out of control when LinkedIn platform was in development, and they hadn’t dialed back virality in favor of Profile changes). this was probably in error, as LinkedIn hasn’t really made its own internal newsfeed equivalent viral / engaging enough, and Facebook was able to rein in its own platform spamminess later.

in summary: LinkedIn has a lot more to do if it wants to open up the platform, however it’s choices in favor of caution & monetization were perhaps reasonable at the time. given how well LinkedIn is doing on revenue, it was probably prudent to be conservative with how hard they stepped on the gas.

still, i hope they change their attitude and open up further / make the platform more engaging. we’ll have to see if the new efforts prove any more successful.

Personally I prefer to be able to access the various social and business networking sites and social media I belong to, via my BlackBerry, on the fly. I am on twitter, Facebook, Xing, have a WordPress blog, have a Blogger blog, have a Tumblr blog and all of these have one (some more) BlackBerry app.

This means I can execute my social and business networking and social media activities wherever I am, whenever I want to, and don’t need to carry a laptop nor even a netbook (of which I have one each).

I am a member of LinkedIn but find it frustrating that I have to wait until I am in front of my laptop before I can do a anything with LinkedIn, which for me doesn’t make it as spontaneous or compelling as the other sites, and one of the main reason I am a paid member of Xing.

I do find it strange that LinkedIn is resisting the mobilising of its network.

Thomas (@TferThomas on twitter.

Friend Connect doesn’t use only Google auth, it uses OpenID and OAuth.

The platform is modular, not bulky, which does mean some sites have implemented more of it than others, but there is a general REST API that is supported by many of the implementers, including MySpace, Google, Hi5 etc, though not LinkedIn, sadly.

Yes, sites do need to decide to support being an Auth, contacts and activity provider for the rest of the web too, and many of them have stepped up to do this over open protocols; I do hope LinkedIn joins them.

1. I disagree with the comment that there is not “useful data around linkedin users” [that should not be kept confidential.] I would never agree to be on it if everyone could get to my contact information; I’d be flooded with requests for jobs, references, and especially introductions to my network, all of which would cost me a lot of time and money to deal with. I’m very protective of who I give access to my network (and I expect others to be as well; I think long and hard before I ask someone for an introduction, but many people do not). I generate a lot of business from linkedin, because the right people see what I have to offer.

2. I agree with some of the usability comments; the constant need to sign in is ridiculous, and the search function is archaic. That being said, I just joined facebook (no laughter please) because people told me I HAD to be on it, and the software is amazingly cludgy, I’m stunned that so many people using it; you can’t even do a basic search by state.

3. I’m sure there are a lot of ‘bells and whistles’ that can be added to linkedin, but I fear it will be like cell phones, adding a lot of features that 10% (?) of users need, yet I still can’t make basic calls because no effort seems to be being put into what I still think is the prime function of (at least) my phone, making calls. It is rare when I can have a call that doesn’t get dropped, cut off, dialing is a pain, the phonebook takes forever to store a number, etc. But if I want to watch TV, I can do it!

Unfortunately, never got a response back from LinkedIn either confirming the idea or rejecting it.

I like LinkedIN. I check it a couple of times a day, it’s quick, sometimes interesting connections are made; I answer a question or two, see some very brief updates from people I actually know (from meatspace).

I have a Facebook account; I think about as highly of Facebook as I do of MySpace, it’s become meaningless. Twitter is truly meaningless for real connections, it’s just a news channel. 140 characters is #sadcommunication.

“Apps” are now the sole determination of success? Strange how that’s evolved? Maybe it gives people (Tech blogs) more to write about? “Oh, a new App…” “Oh, another new App…” — BFD. I don’t care about them, they mean nothing to me.

LinkedIN works for what it works for. It doesn’t have to be Facebook, lord help us if it becomes Twitter. Some of us like it how it is. It’s why we all use it.

One would think that opening up the LI Platform would help it become an everyday app…

I still have hope, and their comScore numbers continue to grow.

-David

LinkedIn’s own “Event” area also significantly slows it down.

Add in the decision to put pictures with every status, and load times for pages are ridiculously slow during the day.

LinkedIn tip – if you are looking at your connections and get that error, hit refresh a couple of times and it usually works, probably because they engineered a timeout period that expired prematurely.