Facebook have added a fully discoverable “skills” option to user profiles, as discovered by blog Sociobits.org and is a blatant copy from the popular Professional Social Networking site LinkedIn. While more and more employers are turning to Facebook for recruiting, it’s usually more to find out who the prospective employee really is, not how they want to appear. This got us thinking here at Growing Social Media so we decided to do a compare and contrast of the popular sites, and weigh up the pros and cons of the update.
“Hacking” Etiquette
We’ve all got one (or many) of those friends who love to hack your Facebook, usually posting an embarrassing update for all your friends, and elderly family members to see. While it’s considered a modern-day practical joke on a Facebook page – doing the same on someone’s LinkedIn page could jeopardise their career prospects. With the new changes to Facebook, what would the effects of a harmless practical joke turn into?
Friend/Link Requests
On Facebook, anyone can you send you a friend request – even if you’ve never met them before and you have no idea how they came to your profile. On LinkedIn however, you have to provide a reason to connect such as “colleague”, “friend”, “classmate” etc, you can even request that people input your email address to prove they know who you are. This helps minimize the number of requests high powered CEOs and the like get.
Friend/Link Visibility
Once someone’s your friend on Facebook, all bets are off and they’re free to roam through your friends list and pick out people they want to get to know. In LinkedIn however, you have the option of hiding your links, even from others who you’re linked with – however you are still able to see Shared links, like mutual friends in Facebook.
Photos
Facebook tends to be used as a photo storage of sorts, showcasing your everyday life to all your friends, no matter the occasion. On LinkedIn you have one photo (your profile picture) and that’s it. No photos of you from Oktoberfest, or that party from Freshman year that you’d forgotten about until it got brought up at the dinner table.
Frequent Facebook users will understand, we use Facebook very differently to any other social media because it feels more secure and you can “control” what gets seen and by who. With LinkedIn, the ability to post is limited and it’s general use is highly professional. So how will these new changes alter the way Facebook will be used? How do you feel about the new addition? Let us know!
By G+ Author: Erin Washington.
