The Social Media LinkedIn - Essay Example

LinkedIn was officially launched in 2003, with a wide network. The company possesses a diversified business model and generates revenue from talent and marketing solutions along with subscriptions of premium products. It is a social networking site used by professionals for their business purposes as well as to increase connectivity with the public and other allied professionals in different fields. The site is used for various marketing reasons by the companies and it provides an opportunity to the members to showcase their talents. It provides a business-oriented atmosphere and its objective is to increase connectivity. It is a useful social media for developing marketing strategies to increase connectivity for the professionals (LinkedIn Corporation, 2013).

Discussion
Risk Factors
Social media with the advancement of technology is becoming an integral part of business networking. The platform is aggressively used by businesses for the purpose of marketing along with increasing connectivity. LinkedIn can trigger a wide variety of risks to the organizations such as the risk of information leakage. The risk factors involved can be the leakage of confidential information by the third party which can prove to be a breach. The placement of the advertisements on the site of LinkedIn at times can be tricky which might make the user download the infected application which causes leakage of personal information. This might lead to the misuse of data and might cause a fraudulent act. The loss of privacy can be a risk for the companies using the platform and their customers as well owing to the fact that a significant extent of personal and corporate information is exchanged through LinkedIn. The risk involved for these sites largely comes from the hackers as they tend to extract the information and cause legal risk. The platform being open for every user does not provide adequate safety, security on a social and legal basis. At the same time, the social networking site is useful for showcasing the prevailing opportunities and talents (Navetta, 2011).

Growth History and Reasons for Growth
The LinkedIn site has shown a growing trend in the past few years. In the year 2003, the site had 4500 members in its network. With the use of the diversified business model, the LinkedIn platform has shown tremendous growth. It has at present nearly 225 million users in not less than 200 countries. It also has revealed a steady growth as it has 4800 employees worldwide in more than 20 languages. The total revenue amassed by LinkedIn in 2013 has been nearly US$393 Million with the increase in the number of members. Moreover, officials from Fortune 500 companies are their members. LinkedIn uses a data-driven strategy to enhance the growth of the site and increase its revenue. The data provided through the site to the end-users are helping to improve the marketing strategies of the user companies. This strategy is facilitating the business and the members to decide on the marketing strategies along with decision making to increase the performance. This kind of strategy aids in providing accurate and efficient data which in turn facilitates the social networking platform in increasing the subscription and in the generation of revenue. LinkedIn makes money by using premium accesses, sales of ads for the products, and providing solutions to corporate clients (LinkedIn Corporation, 2013).

Busies Model Evolution
LinkedIn uses various other business models to increase its members and connectivity and hence ensures growth in the future. LinkedIn has executed a multi-sided platform that provides solutions to various categories of people. The ‘Freemium’ business model is a strategy wherein the users are provided services free of cost but the amount is changed for more features. The model is used to expand and foster relationships in the field of marketing as it helps in attracting users. It intends to generate revenue by making the members of the site contented. LinkedIn uses the “same-side network effect” which helps in increasing the network through the word-of-mouth strategy. LinkedIn possesses a great prospect in the future as it provides job prospects, subscription of products, hiring solutions for the recruiters, brand promotion along facilitating in showcasing talent (Freemium, n.d.).