As an example: when my son moved to Tennessee a couple of years ago he didn't know a soul there. He's in the asphalt maintenance business, so he punched that up in his Linkeden account, and, almost immediately, half a dozen pros and executives in the industry contacted him with offers to help. My son told him his situation, and, before long they had referred him to several dozen decision makers in the industry. I don't know how much business he got out of it other than it was a lot.

Used correctly, it can be a very positive addition to your network, whether you're looking for a career move, want to hire someone, or just need advice. People just have a natural propensity to want to help others in their field, and the idea is, of course, "I help you today, maybe, someday, you'll be in a position to help me."

I understand the data gathering aspect, but, that's pretty much S.O.P. anywhere you go on the "Net." HuffPo and Facebook scoop up, and sell info on everyone, and give you back nothing but the normal social network yakety yak.

Let's say you're into restoring and selling 70's Chrysler "Muscle Cars." Where else can you contact a Chrysler Vice President of product development, and ask him advice about your intentions. Normally, anybody trying to contact a Vice President of one of The Big Three automakers gets a brush off, or a form letter. But, the idea with Linkeden is that it's a fraternity, and it's considered poor protocol to brush off a beginner just because you're a big shot. In fact, it's exactly that feature that has made Linkeden one of the fastest growing companies on Wall Street, and, it's stock price has skyrocketed accordingly.