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Features
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LinkedIn
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Facebook
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Twitter
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Basic Focus
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Business users
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Consumers and business users
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Consumers and business users
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Cost
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Free, though advertising efforts are paid.
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Free, though advertising efforts are paid.
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Free, though advertising efforts are paid.
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Key Features
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LinkedIn is a social network designed with business users in mind. The
service allows users to connect with colleagues, former classmates and
fellow professionals to expand their networks. In addition, it allows
users to join groups based on certain professions or topics. Companies
use the site to advertise job openings and seek qualified candidates.
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Facebook is the world’s largest social network. Unlike LinkedIn,
Facebook doesn’t rely upon professionals to attract users. Instead, the
site is open to any users who are 13 years of age and older. Users have
their own profile pages that include wall comments, images, and more.
The site also has a robust apps and games section. Users tend to meld
their personal and business lives on Facebook in a way doesn’t tend to
happen on LinkedIn.
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Twitter is much different than Facebook or LinkedIn. This social
network offers users the ability to send out messages in 140 characters
or less. Users can search out other members based on areas of interest
and “follow” them to receive updates the other person “tweets” out.
There are fewer privacy options on Twitter than on the other social
media sites. A user can make their updates private, at which point,
only followers will be able to see updates.
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Groups
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LinkedIn arguably has the best collection of professional groups of any
social network. The site lets users form groups based on shared
interests or topics. Groups can be open to all members or closed and
accessible by invitation only. CIOs, CTOs and other senior IT leaders
have formed their own groups based on industries, job duties,
technologies or shared professional interests. Groups are a key
component in what makes LinkedIn a valuable site for professionals.
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Facebook users also have the ability to form their own groups, as well
as create their own branded pages. Pages are also used by companies to
promote their brands, connect with customers, and engage in other
activities that might be of use to the average firm. Individual users
can "like" certain pages, but the best “group” scenarios involve
communicating with friends.
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Twitter allows users to create lists that let them group together
tweets from certain people. However, the functionality of these lists
is limited compared with what can be accomplished in a LinkedIn Group.
That might be an issue for some CIOs who want to communicate privately
with select users. Twitter lists are ideal for those who want to narrow
down certain updates.
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Promotional Opportunities
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A number of promotional opportunities are available on LinkedIn.
Companies use the site to advertise job opportunities. Professionals
likewise use the site to invite career opportunities, business
partnerships, and valuable self-promotion.
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When it comes to professional networking, Facebook doesn’t afford you
the same level of individual opportunities as LinkedIn. However,
corporate brands are finding success building their own pages and
advertising on the site. If you would like to promote yourself
professionally on Facebook, consider “friending” only people that are
in your social circle. Just as importantly, be sure to update your
status with pertinent messages and add important career details to your
profile.
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Twitter is arguably the hardest tool to use for self-promotion. The
service doesn’t offer a full-fledged profile page that would help users
gain a full understanding of your profession and your background. As
with the minimalistic tweets, the space for your description on your
profile page is restricted. However, if you tweet out informative
updates to your followers, you can use the site to establish yourself
as a knowledgeable source of worthwhile information. And that alone
makes you more marketable.
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Security Concerns
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While there have not been as many reports of cyber criminals targeting
LinkedIn as there have been for the other two sites featured here,
don’t fool yourself. Use common sense and accept networking invitations
only from those whom you know. Be conscious of the kind of information
you’re sharing, and make sure it doesn’t violate any of your company’s
policies.
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Facebook has been facing some security issues over the last couple
years as its popularity continues to rise. The social network’s users
have been the target of phishing scams, as well as malware attacks. In
addition, hackers have been known to try and take over user accounts.
Keep all that in mind before you decide to jump into one social network
or another.
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Twitter has been the target of phishing scams as more and more people
join the site and share links. In addition, many fake accounts are on
the site with the sole purpose of spamming user accounts. And as
always, be sure that your credentials are not being put at risk.
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Privacy Concerns
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Overall, the privacy concerns related to LinkedIn are equally as
disconcerting as any other social network. If you share personal
information on the site, it can potentially be accessed by the wrong
people. Luckily, LinkedIn lets you lock down your profile quite well to
minimize the potential privacy issues that might occur.
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Facebook has come under fire from critics who say that the social
network has not done enough over the years to ensure that the privacy
of its users’ profile information is at safe levels. Last year, it
unveiled several privacy controls to ameliorate some of these concerns,
but critics say the policies are confusing to most users.
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Twitter users don’t necessarily need to worry about the same privacy
issues of others, since profile information is not as detailed as on
other social networks. Moreover, the site allows users to make their
profiles private, which helps ensure that privacy is kept to a maximum.
If it’s privacy a user is after, Twitter is arguably the best option.
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Professional Membership
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Quite high. As a business-networking site, professionals are all over LinkedIn.
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Quite high, though they might be hard to find. Facebook has more than
500 million users, and many of them are professionals. They simply
might be using the site for other purposes.
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Quite high, though they might be hard to find. Twitter has millions of
users, and many of them are professionals. They simply might be using
the site for other purposes. And the limited search functionality of
the site makes it tricky to find others with common interests.
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Mobile Usability
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LinkedIn is available on multiple mobile operating platforms, including the iPhone iOS, BlackBerry, Android, and Palm products.
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Facebook’s app is available on several mobile platforms, including the iPhone, Android-based devices, and BlackBerry.
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There are several Twitter apps, including one from the social network,
available to the iPhone, Android handsets, and BlackBerry devices.
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Number of Users
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More than 100 million
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More than 500 million
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More than 250 million
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