Hi, I’m Eric Stoller, blogger for OnlineColleges.org! I’m known across the country as a thought leader and consultant on using social media in higher education to create connections and enhance communication. You can find out more about my professional background, and current projects 
It is a simple question about a dynamic website. LinkedIn is a professional social networking site. If you are not using it yet, you should be. LinkedIn offers a degree of utility that other social sites cannot offer. It’s the go-to site for up-and-coming professionals. For the online learner, LinkedIn is a great place for networking, recommendations, intelligence gathering, and building your personal brand.
Networking
One of the social networking aspects of LinkedIn is that it is all about professional connections. Connect with your faculty members, academic advisors, mentors, former bosses, professional association members, current bosses, etc. and watch as your network expands (and along with it, your access to a greater level of folks who may be ready to assist you). I am consistently amazed by LinkedIn’s recommendation engine. I have found several people on LinkedIn who have been extremely helpful when I have had a question or needed an introduction to someone else.
The InMaps function provides a really nifty view of all of your LinkedIn connections. InMaps display “an interactive visual representation of your professional universe, based on the relationships between your connections.” You can map out your professional connections. Sometimes visualizing your network can be a really productive exercise. For example, on my InMap, I can see distinct areas where I have tremendous amounts of connections: Oregon State University, Higher Education Professionals, Social Justice Bloggers, Academic Advisors and Higher Education Marketing/Communications Practitioners. Visualizing my connections allows me to see how my entire network is woven together.
Recommendations
What is better than an impersonal reference list? LinkedIn recommendations allow your professional connections to write about your work and share their thoughts about what is like to be your boss, mentor, advisor, colleague or professor. Recommendations make your profile much more complete. Having professional commentary about your work and the value that you provide is a priceless aspect of LinkedIn. Make sure that you write recommendations for your connections. However, do not worry if it is not reciprocated. The larger the network, the greater the possibility of quality recommendation opportunities.
Intelligence Gathering
LinkedIn provides an immense amount of data about companies. Most companies are represented on LinkedIn. For example, there are more than 37,000 Google employees on LinkedIn and more than half of them have a bachelors degree. A companies profile on LinkedIn can tell you all about their employees and their job opportunities. LinkedIn groups are also a wonderful way to connect with like-minded people around a topic, an association, course group, academic program, etc. Groups are fairly active and contain a wealth of useful information.
Building Your Personal Brand
What happens when someone Googles your name? If you are on LinkedIn, the odds are pretty good that your profile will be the first entry in a search. That is supremely helpful when it comes to building and managing your personal brand. LinkedIn is a professional site. If people find your profile and it is fully fleshed out, then they will get to see a snapshot of your professional history and expertise. LinkedIn is a terrific site for those who are looking ahead for a future career as well as for those who are currently conducting a job search.
Tags: linkedin, networking, personal brand, social media, social networking
