LinkedIn just hit the 500 million user mark

by Matthew Hughes — in Insider

LinkedIn just hit the 500 million user mark

LinkedIn, the Microsoft-owned professional networking site, today announced it had passed a major milestone, with over 500 million users registered.

That’s pretty impressive growth when you consider that it had 400 million members in October, 2015, and 450 million members in August, 2016. Although, when compared against the stratospheric growth of Facebook and Whatsapp, it’s less impressive.

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That’s not the whole story though. While most Facebook users engage with the service on a daily basis, LinkedIn users are more sparing, with only 25 percent visiting the site each month. Others are more bullish, with analytics firm Apptopia suggesting that half of all LinkedIn members visiting the site on a monthly basis.

Apptopia CEO Eliran Sapir says “LinkedIn has proven time and again to be one of the strongest social and professional networks out there. Strong growth numbers and even stronger engagement mean a great acquisition for Microsoft, and lots of potential to grow, especially on mobile.”
As TechCrunch pointed out, LinkedIn has ceased to report earnings since the Microsoft acquisition, although we know the company is a bit of a money-sink. Consequently, user milestones are perhaps the best way we’ve got to see how the site is doing.

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