LinkedIn Usage Up 22 Percent

Just read this nice article from NJ.com. The increase in people looking for work has resulted in a lot more time spent on business networking sites like LinkedIn, which had 33 million users at the end of last year. LinkedIn has also seen a 65 percent increase in the number of recommendations posted by users on behalf of other users. My guess is that two things are happening there:

• People looking for work (or fearing that they will have to soon) are soliciting recommendations from coworkers.
• Coworkers are posting recommendations for their fallen comrades in hopes of helping them land on their feet.

The article makes a funny distinction between Facebook and LinkedIn: The former is like a party; the latter is like an office party. Big difference! Personally, I've been so enthralled with the randomness of Facebook that I am in danger of ignoring LinkedIn. But, I know that's going to even out when the newness wears off.

Kudos to JibberJobber blogger Jason Alba for getting a plug for his book in this article. As I told him when I met him at a conference this past year, he's ubiquitous!