LinkedIn, the business oriented social networking site, has announced the launch of a series of applications aimed to enhance the features of the site. The current uncertainty within the economy and the job losses associated with the credit crunch is likely to increase the importance of professional networking as users seek information relating to their careers as well as leads for new jobs.
LinkedIn have adopted a strict policy regarding the applications available, and deemed that they must all be corporate minded, as opposed to the many applications elsewhere primarily used for entertainment purposes. There is also a limit of 15 applications per profile, in attempt to avoid the problem of clutter that has limited their appeal on many other social network sites.
Amazon has developed a ‘Reading List’ application, allowing users to share ideas with fellow members as to which books are recommended for their specific professional field. A ‘Company Buzz’ application has been produced by LinkedIn, allowing users to research what is being said about their company on Twitter. This may well be useful for potential employees to gain first hand information while looking for jobs, as well as company bosses keen to gather intelligence on how users view their firm.
A variety of other applications available include a Google Presentations app, blog feeds from WordPress and Six Apart, file storage solutions from Box.net, online workspaces from Huddle, and a travel organiser from TripIt. Hopefully their strict rules will ensure they avoid the issues that users experience on similar social networking sites brought on by an abundance of meaningless applications.