Linked in is both a collaborative environment and a social network for people who wish to define and map their work-related contacts. The Linked In website states that "over 50 million professionals use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas and opportunities."
Through your network you can (see reference):
1) Manage the information that’s publicly available about you as professional
2) Find and be introduced to potential clients, service providers, and experts
3) Create and collaborate on projects, gather data, share files, solve problems
4) Be found for business opportunities and find potential partners
5) Gain new insights from discussions with likeminded professionals
6) Discover inside connections that can help you land jobs and close deals
7) Post and distribute job listings to find the best talent for your company
As the above video sarcastically states, the "network of professionals" may be a bit misunderstood by some groups of people. The theory of constructivism states that reality is not something that exists on it's own, reality is constructed and thus perceived as something that is. So, by linking ourselves to different people, we create an illusion we wish other's would perceive as reality.
Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams stated in their book (Wikinomics. How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything) that "recently, smart companies have been rethinking openness, and this is beginning to affect a number of important functions, including human resources, innovation, industry standards, and communications." Today companies that make their boundaries porous to external ideas and human capital outperform companies that rely solely on their internal resources and capabilities (Tapscott & Williams, 2006).
In other words, networking on different levels (personal and/or organizational) may prove to be fairly profitable if implemented correctly.
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