LinkedIn is for business people. There is no question about it, just look at the profile pictures compared to the Facebook profile photos you see–a lot more suits and professional clothing on LinkedIn. Not one funny talisman. A Fiserv survey in 2010 found that the most likely users of LinkedIn are boomers, but usage among seniors drops off quickly. 
LinkedIn lags Facebook and MySpace, but passed an important milestone of 100 million users worldwide (44 million are US). Twitter ranks slightly lower than LinkedIn for Unique Visitors according to comScore.
I know that many have tried to use LinkedIn as a tool for sales. And there are ways to connect with people in a much more professional
way than Facebook connections. But the real value to me seems to be the idea of establishing groups and keeping connected on a topic—without all the vacation and pet pictures.
Groups and sub-groups work well for discussions and sharing information over a long period of time. There are many college groups and hobby interest groups, but you could certainly establish a workgroup around a project or goal. LinkedIn says that these groups connect in ways that “really matter” to marketers. I’m not
sure what ”really matter” means, but I do know that it is a good way to connect and receive ideas and content on a project. And that is a good environment for sales.
If you are not on LinkedIn, look me up and connect.
