How many professionals are active users?
MARCH 30, 2011 – In March 2011, LinkedIn reported reaching a milestone: 100 million users worldwide had signed up for the service, 44 million of whom are in the US. According to the company�s blog, 1 million more are signing up each week.
eMarketer does not estimate the number of LinkedIn users, and unlike with Twitter, users are fairly unlikely to have multiple profiles. But how active are the 44 million US internet users with a profile on the site?
According to Experian Hitwise, in January 2011 LinkedIn got only 0.51% of all social networking site visits in the US. Facebook naturally took the lion�s share, at nearly 90%, but Myspace, Twitter, Tagged, myYearbook and MyLife.com all came in ahead of LinkedIn. But comScore reported in December 2010 that LinkedIn had 26.6 million US unique visitors, behind Facebook and Myspace but ahead of Twitter.
An October 2010 survey by The Media Audit reported 11.5% of US consumers had logged on to LinkedIn in the past month. In February 2010, an Arbitron/Edison Research study of consumers ages 12 and older found 8% used LinkedIn. Between LinkedIn�s growing user base and the fact that kids and teens generally don�t use the professional network, those numbers are a close match.
Among internet users, Google and Ipsos OTX MediaCT found 13% of non-Hispanics and 8% of Hispanics used LinkedIn in October 2010. And Interpret found that 8% of US social network users had an active LinkedIn profile as of Q3 2010, meaning they log on to the site at least every two weeks.
The age of LinkedIn users is more evenly spread out, according to an August 2010 survey by Fiserv. While usage is lower among all age groups than for competitors like Facebook, boomers are almost equally likely to use the site as members of Gen Y. Usage among seniors, however, drops off considerably.
According to November 2010 research by Wedbush Securities, fewer internet users used LinkedIn than Facebook and Twitter, and users were proportionally less likely to log in to the site daily. A June 2010 Sheraton Hotels & Resorts survey found LinkedIn users checked the site less frequently than did Myspace or Twitter users, but more often than Facebook users did so.
But according to LinkedIn, site users are active in ways that will matter to social media marketers. The company reported nearly 18 million members belonged to groups, and that groups gained 1.5 million new memberships and 1.2 million posts and comments each week.
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