More than a third of the U.S. workforce are Millennials.* For these young workers, LinkedIn is a natural place to network and make professional connections.
*Pew Research Center analysis of monthly 1994 and 2017 Current Population Survey (IPUMS). 11 April, 2018. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/11/millennials-largest-generation-us-labor-force/
Graph information from: Pew Research Center "Social Media Fact Sheet." 12 June, 2019. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/
LinkedIn and Facebook share many similarities, such as personal profiles, business pages, status updates, and shareable content. But their main difference is in the purpose of these profiles, pages and content. Whereas Facebook is more geared towards sharing personal content, LinkedIn is a professional platform.
People use LinkedIn to showcase work-related content such as research publications, industry articles, and local business happenings. Posts on LinkedIn tend to be more polished and formal, whereas posts on Facebook are intended to be relatable and more casual.
On both platforms, users share a mix of content they have created themselves and content they’ve found from other sources. When sharing posts to your LinkedIn feed, remember to double-check the credibility of the source. By sharing a post you are essentially endorsing the content, so make sure it is coming from somewhere dependable, and is written in a professional manner.
LinkedIn pages and profiles present different opportunities. People tend to prefer connecting with other people rather than a faceless brand. Unlike Facebook, small business owners on LinkedIn are generally expected to have a personal profile for themselves as well as a LinkedIn page for their business.