One feature is that you can search for, and contact, other group members directly. Also, other group members (and sometimes all LinkedIn members, depending on the settings for the group as a whole, and your individual settings for the group ;) ) can see the group's logo prominently displayed on your profile, and likewise you can see it on theirs.

Whether these features are useful to you perhaps depends on how close an affinity you have with other members of the group.

I heard that its just good for getting spam. I can't keep up with Facebook, I dont' know how I'd keep up with another online social network.

I don't think so. There is no way for a spammer to get your address unless you accept an invitation from one. I've never gotten any spam from LinkedIn.

Not sure what you mean by "spam." Do you mean unwanted invitations to join someone's network? Or do you mean random unwanted e-mail of other kinds?

LinkedIn is much more business relationship focused vs. Facebook being more social relationships (IME/O). I get far more "spam" on Facebook than I do on LinkedIn.

If I haven't actaully interacted with a person in a business context I typically do not connect with them in LinkedIn. In Facebook it is people I know in the real world but there may not be a business relationship. I don't link with people I do not know which keeps true spam to a minimum.

Of course, but once again, what exactly is meant by "spam" in this context?

Are you talking about unwanted invitations to join someone's network, or some other kind of "spam?" :confused:

I took Daria's spam comment to be about unwanted invitations. That is the context in which I used the term. I have never received true spam through any social networking site.

In the case of unwanted invitations, I have been on LinkedIn for a few years now and I think I have received maybe 2 or 3 unwanted invitations from headhunters.

I haven't been on LinkedIn but was on another site when the topic was brought up. People on there said they got little out of it other than a lot of spam. The impression I got was that they were sent solititations from companies to use their products. Having never been on the site, I don't know if this is possible but enough people said it that it turned me off of joining.

there's something wrong with my LinkedIn account... I can log in but I can't edit anything because it keeps on asking me to log in again and again.

I have no problems with cookies from any other site.

--Russ

That's been my experience as well. Kind of irritating. Headhunters that know someone i know, but want to add me to their network, without even knowing or meeting me. i guess it's like the online version of cold calling. :rolleyes:

Thankfully this hasn't happened to me (yet), but maybe I just jinxed myself! :( This has happened, however, on the new Plaxo social networking service, and although I use Plaxo, I don't use it for that feature.:td:

My BS detector is going off here! Solicitations from companies to use their products? :confused:

I've had some useful results from LinkedIn, as I posted earlier in this thread. I think you get out of it what you put in. And of course if you never bother to learn what it is really about and how to use it, and you don't ever join it, you'll get absolutely nothing out of it. ;)

Very true, I guess I should get on there and see what it's about for myself :)

Bingo -- I have a facebook account for friends and a linkedin account for business colleagues / relationships. Both serve me very well.

peace,
~Ben~