How to use LinkedIn

I like LinkedIn. I used to be very cynical about it - I supposed it to be just another means of showing off how many aquaintances one has. I always felt that those who had to demonstrably make a point of mentioning who they knew usually did so spurred by a sense of shortcoming (ahem, see facebook).

But actually, LinkedIn has proved me wrong because it is genuinely about sharing contacts rather than showboating. It is the inverse of the above, it is saying here is my little black book, feel free to use it if it helps. Or at least, it ought to be.

Three other reasons I like it:

• I got offered work through it last week. A friend of a friend was trying to solve a problem and via LinkedIn I became aware of that opportunity.
• The Answers thing works. Think of all the clever stuff your colleagues know, all the latent knowledge just sitting there. Well, this brings it to the surface. I used this today to get a recommendation on good ways to learn PHP. Saved me hours of looking at the wrong tutorials or reading Amazon reviews I don't necessarily trust.
  
• You can see what people are up to/into in tech via the questions being asked.
• When you're set to meet someone new you can see who you both mutually know beforehand
  

So there we go, rock on LinkedIn. You have at least one fan in Cambridge, UK.