Recently, I was selected by LinkedIn to be a “featured follow” on their new app for my work in higher education and technology. As a result of this selection, I have been exploring and engaging on LinkedIn more than ever before. Although I have always been a big fan of the site, I don’t know that I ever truly appreciated its potential. It is an excellent way to build and maintain networks. Increasingly, it is also an excellent source for sharing and discovering content.
Within the field of higher education, I think that LinkedIn is often misunderstood. I have met many colleagues that have a profile, but aren’t quite sure what to do with it. At first blush, LinkedIn seems to privilege those in careers in business. The site, however, can also be a very powerful tool for scholars. Sue Beckingham at the Department of Computing at Sheffield Hallam University posted this excellent walkthrough to SlideShare that helps academic understand the why’s and how to’s of getting engaged on LinkedIn. It’s a great primer if you’re wanting to get started on LinkedIn but don’t know how. If you haven’t been on LinkedIn in a while, I encourage you to give it another look.
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