LinkedIn, Facebook Out

LinkedIn has reached 50 million users worldwide and it’s growing by roughly one new member per second.

When LinkedIn launched in 2003, it took four hundreds and seventy seven days, about a year and four months, to reach its first million members. The last million took only 12 days.

Where are these 50 million users? LinkedIn has been global since inception; about half of the total membership is international.

There are now 11 million users in Europe alone. India is currently the fastest-growing country with almost 3 million users, while the Netherlands has the highest rate of adoption per capita outside the U.S., at 30 percent.

Around the globe, people turn to LinkedIn to create and manage their professional identities online. They reconnect with former colleagues and develop new relationships.Every day professionals use LinkedIn to define themselves and their businesses to the world.

"Fifty million is an important milestone," said Jeff Weiner CEO -Linkedin, "however, in the context of our mission , to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful ,we’re just getting started,"said Weiner.

While LinkedIn is growing fast, Facebook's growth has slowed this summer. According to one report, despite reaching the 300 million members milestone in September, the site's growth may have hit a saturation point in some markets.

"LinkedIn's focus on professional networking distinguishes it from social playgrounds like Facebook and News Corp.'s MySpace, where users are encouraged to share their personal lives by posting party photos and adding favorite bands," said LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.


http://www.media.asia/newsarticle/2009_10/LinkedIn-membership-accelerates-past-50-million/37552

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2008-01-20-linkedin_N.htm

http://www.media.asia/searcharticle/Facebook-fatigue-sets-in-as-growth-slows/2008/37509?src=related

http://blog.linkedin.com/2009/10/14/linkedin-50-million-professionals-worldwide/