I have been a LinkedIn user for a little over a year and a Facebook user for even longer. Unless you are using Facebook for professional uses only, which let’s be honest most of us are not, the two are very different. LinkedIn is a place where you can network on a professional level and I think it is an excellent place to showcase your work experience and connect with colleagues. LinkedIn is also a place to connect with others whom you may not know but may have professional connections with or are associated by a company or a job. I have connected with several other athletic trainers of schools in my area that I have never met and I think that LinkedIn provides a unique opportunity for such connections.
With Facebook, connections are often purely social and sometimes people may be more reluctant to connect with people whom they have never met for fear of sharing their personal lives with a stranger. I admit that I am this way, I will not accept a friend request on Facebook unless I know the individual, but with LinkedIn I am more willing to do so on a professional level for the possible work connections in the future and for the purposes of professionally networking.
With Facebook, connections are often purely social and sometimes people may be more reluctant to connect with people whom they have never met for fear of sharing their personal lives with a stranger. I admit that I am this way, I will not accept a friend request on Facebook unless I know the individual, but with LinkedIn I am more willing to do so on a professional level for the possible work connections in the future and for the purposes of professionally networking.