Comments on: The LinkedIn Killer: Wall Street Journal takes a STAB at it

By: Barbara

Barbara — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:25:06 +0000

Hey, I agree w/Jason. ANYTHING is possible so long as you have the brand,marketing plan and $$’s. I believe social networking is here to stay. I would NOT be surprised to see LinkedIn have a competitor.

By: Allan Hoving

Allan Hoving — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:27:27 +0000

Hi, Jason, you’re still the best when it comes to explaining LinkedIn. I just wish LinkedIn would do as good a job of it as you do. In fact, that’s where WSJ Connect – or ExecuNet – or any other service could seize the advantage: educating users on HOW to leverage these powerful technology platforms. But you know this Cheers!

By: Steve Tylock

Steve Tylock — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:56:53 +0000

Jason,

I’m confident that an application can be built that is “better” than LinkedIn – but I don’t think that alone is enough to drain the life out of LinkedIn…

My views on the topic:

http://www.linkedinpersonaltrainer.com/archives/how-to-respond-to-linkedin-competitors-aka-wsj/

Interesting on the “trying to sell their product aspect” – I didn’t pick up on that.

That’s like saying “we’re going to outdo the competition, except our version will support us better than their version supports them” – doesn’t that cripple the effort to “outdo” the competition?-)

steve

By: Adelino de Almeida

Adelino de Almeida — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:07:52 +0000

Yes someone can pull it off and the answer may be… marketing. Get as many people as possible to join in, critical mass, as you say is, well, critical. LinkedIn has a great advantage over other sites: it offers the opportunity of being “passively” looking for a job without even looking like one is looking for a job.

By: When “work” is fun – more “work” gets done.

When “work” is fun – more “work” gets done. — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:42:04 +0000

[...] Alba hilights in his post The LinkedIn Killer: Wall Street Journal takes a STAB at it how slow LinkedIn has been to embrace the true “spirit” of social networking [...]

By: Jason Alba

Jason Alba — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:22:41 +0000

There are a bunch of good comments on my FB page to this post – hopefully the owners bring them over here.

One talks about how WSJ has a great audience… if you look at the site traffic they are neck and neck (kind of): http://siteanalytics.compete.com/wsj.com+linkedin.com/

By: Kathy | Virtual Impax

Kathy | Virtual Impax — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:14:18 +0000

I have to disagree. I think the WSJ Connect DEFINITELY has the “potential” to be a LinkedIn killer.

The reasons include those you’ve outlined above. Linked In doesn’t seem to “get” what social media is all about.

I mean, I found this blog post because I happened to get a silly message from a friend at Facebook. You and I are “connected” there – I saw that “status update” on my wall and “VIOLA” here I am commenting on your blog.

On the other hand, the messages I get from LinkedIn are very cryptic and to be honest, not very enticing. Sure I have business contacts on Linked In – but I have those on Facebook as well – and Facebook finds ways to “pull” me in.

LinkedIn makes me “work” – while Facebook lets me “play” and get some work done as well.

If the WSJ Connect site can master that mix – oh what a LinkedIn killer it will be!

By: Jason Alba

Jason Alba — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:57:35 +0000

Alright Steve, help me out here – what do you think GE’s PC in ‘92 would be? I really have no idea what they were doing, what the market looked like, etc. Are you saying they would have conquered the market, or that this is something they shouldn’t even try?

By: Steve Duncan

Steve Duncan — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:26:51 +0000

My response: http://www.swduncan.com/archives/2009/08/05/linkedin-killer-i-dont-think-so

In general, I think social networking is peaking – if it hasn’t peaked already. WSJ starting a networking site is like GE launching a personal computer company in ‘92.