Online Networking: How LinkedIn Is Facing Off with Facebook

One online business networking site is outstripping its rivals. Not all businesses and professionals find Facebook's "white noise" and Twitter's brevity useful – but a new business person signs up to LinkedIn every second of every day, making its potential viral impact phenomenal. Some simply post résumés or "hang out" with clients, while others are digging deeper in discussion groups. Like all web-based networking, the site presents risks for users who may accidentally tip off the competition about new projects. Spammers also love it. But LinkedIn aficionados just keep on making new connections. Here's how.