“What Is LinkedIn?”

Whenever I take a trip out of my “new media” bubble and hang out with old friends from high school, it’s always a humbling experience, for a number of reasons.

One of those is the realization that many of my high school friends (and, by extension, most people in general) don’t care nearly as much about the things I think are really important. Sitting around with a few drinks and some old friends, talks of the recent landmark MySpace litigation did not come up, trying to explain my job as an Online Content Manager ends with a number of polite nods and a change of the subject, and then there’s this…

I had tried to connect with a good friend of mine on LinkedIn a week or so ago, but couldn’t find him. At a friend’s house, I asked him about it.

“What’s LinkedIn?” he said.

What was more interesting was another friend’s quick response.

“It’s like Facebook for resumes.”

More than resumes

Now, in my second friend’s defense, he was quick to add that it’s more about networking than it is about resumes. After having just led a quick tutorial at work for a few of our business development folks and sales people on the value of LinkedIn, I was glad to hear him add that addendum.

In any case, coming home for the holidays can be fun, awkward, surprising, uncomfortable, etc., for any number of reasons. For you “new media” friends of mine, do you have any similar experiences? Do old friends look at you like you have two heads?