Have you heard enough about "the MySpace generation"? Tired of the talk about "social networks" on the internet? Don't know Friendster from Facebook? There are reasons for all the buzz, but if we tried to cover all the aspects that relate to alumni relations we'd never get to the end of it. Instead I want to talk about a narrower segment of internet groups: online business networks.
Business networking is different from social networking. Social network sites allow you to share personal information and to view and connect with your friends and their friends. Business networks showcase your professional expertise while connecting you to your professional contacts' own networks.
Alumni associations already have online directories, many of which have profile systems that do some of the same things business networking sites do. So why bother with commercial business networks that include millions of people who aren't your alumni? Because:
- your alumni are using those sites more than they use yours;
- these networks are vast in comparison to your alumni population;
- they include densely interwoven connections among alumni and others;
- their functionality differs from your alumni web site's functionality.
Some alumni associations are creating groups on LinkedIn, perhaps the most populated business networking site. A colleague and I posted a "think piece" in the 2006 Higher Education Blog Conference, exploring the role of third-party business networks in the alumni relations toolbox. I think our observations remain relevant today. Read it for a structured exploration of some basic questions, including:
- Do alumni networks even exist?
- Are commercial networking sites a threat to alumni associations?
- What makes alumni-to-alumni interactions unique?
- Can associations benefit from connecting alumni with non-alumni?
- How might alumni professionals collaborate with commercial sites?
Meanwhile LinkedIn has been plagued with growing pains, almost doubling its membership in the last twelve months. And its customer service has suffered. With about ten million users as of this writing, LinkedIn is pedaling fast to catch up with customer expectations and it remains to be seen how that will play out. There are many independent discussion groups for LinkedIn users as well as a couple of blogs that focus on the site's ups and downs.
In an upcoming post I'll talk about the potential advantages and some caveats for organizations thinking of creating alumni groups on LinkedIn, as well as some lessons our office has learned in the 22 months we've run our alumni group there. For homework, you might want to read our Higher Ed BlogCon posting and then check out the following sites related to online business networking.
Scott Allen's LinkedIntelligence blog
XING, an online business networking site popular outside the U.S.
The Virtual Handshake Blog, a useful resource guide
Business Week piece on corporate uses of online networking sites
