Linkedin Reaches Critical Mass

Linkedin the online networking site appears to be fast reaching a tipping point. In addition to growing number of users (has about 9 million members now), this Valley-Biggie-VC backed venture is also getting a lot of attention. Guy Kawasaki, wrote a good piece on his blog. I have liked and followed Guy since I read his book the 'Art of the Start' a couple of years ago. His blog reflects his thinking with its elegant design, easy to read fonts, easy-on-the-eye colors, simple layout, meaningful content and of course his witty remarks.

I have registered with Linkedin about an year ago and my network has just reached the magical number of one million people. No I don't know all the million, it just means I am directly connected to 166 people I know (colleagues, clients, classmates, friends etc) who know more people who in turn know even more. So it is a two-level connect. There is this well known saying that every person in this world is connected to another by seven links. Linkedin works on the same principle. At one point I was rapidly adding people to my network but now I am selective (Guy claims to have the largest 'pending invites' list on Linkedin). Like anything else, it is a choice of quality over quantity.