LinkedIn has unveiled a new Group Statistics dashboard that allows group admins to drill down into the demographics and growth of their groups.The new dashboard, as CEO Jeff Weiner describes it on Twitter, turns relevant information about each group into an infographic-style display. This information is summarized on a dashboard, but can also be broken down in three areas: “Demographics”, “Growth” and “Activity”.“We’ve designed each infographic view to highlight the most important signals you’ll need to help you understand your group better,” LinkedIn Data Visualization Designer Anita Lillie noted in a post on the LinkedIn blog.

via LinkedIn Unveils Dashboard for Groups Statistics.

To me, LinkedIn has always seemed like more of a place to hunt for a new gig than anything else. And since I haven’t been in the job market for a while, I’ve paid it little mind.

Plus, I’ve always thought LinkedIn was kind of … well, boring. If Facebook is a rave at a hip downtown hot spot, LinkedIn is a stuffy reception with piped-in music at one of those soulless function facilities conveniently located at the end of an exit ramp.

Does that sound harsh? For sure. But now I’ve realized that I couldn’t have been more wrong.

While the early adopters flock to Google+ and our kids and moms become power-users on Facebook, LinkedIn is where business gets done. Execs from all Fortune 500 companies are there, and 59 percent of those active on social networking sites say LinkedIn is their platform of choice over Facebook or Twitter, up from 41 percent who called LinkedIn their most important social account a year earlier, according to a June report by Performics and ROI Research.

via A Guide to Generating Leads on LinkedIn | Entrepreneur.com.

In short, LinkedIn is quickly coming into its own in the social networking realm — and social media managers need to stay on top of it. With the new HootSuite features, they can send company status updates and start group discussions around their content. For companies using LinkedIn for HR marketing and recruiting, it’s an opportunity to post job openings and share professional expertise as well.

This is just the beginning of the two services’ budding partnership. LinkedIn has named HootSuite one of its four charter members in its new Certified Developer Program, a network of developers designated to help marketers, agencies and companies use LinkedIn to connect with their audiences. Needless to say, there’s more LinkedIn functionality on the way for HootSuite.

via HootSuite Integrates LinkedIn Company Pages & Groups.

7 Lessons From Successful Companies on LinkedIn.

Brands are beginning to establish best practices communicating with their customers and prospects onFacebook and Twitter. But many companies large and small have yet to fully leverage the social network for professionals, LinkedIn. With over 120 million user accounts, LinkedIn has also become an essential social network for companies, especially those in B2B, to leverage in their communication plans. Success on LinkedIn isn’t just about individual efforts, it’s about team efforts.

Because Facebook is the world’s largest social network, with 750 million active users as of July 2011, both users and industry analysts have this urge to look at other social networks through the lens of what Facebook has achieved and the ecosystem that has been built around it.

via Reality Check: LinkedIn Is Not Facebook – 10,000 Words.

LinkedIn offers companies the ability to provide more information about their organization via their company pages. On a company page, you can include information about your products and services along with information about job opportunities.

This is a relatively new feature, relaunched back in November 2010. Several Fortune 500 companies were part of the launch of this new feature including Dell, Eastman Kodak, JetBlue and Microsoft. But company pages are not exclusive to only large businesses — Harvard Business School, Rypple, Squarespace and other well-known, successful organizations have LinkedIn company pages.

via HOW TO: Optimize Your LinkedIn Company Profile for Recruiting.