Tree friendly printing Study the table below and draw your own conclusions. The Median number of connections is FOUR
| 2300 | 765 | 181 | 135 | 129 | 127 | 124 | 111 | 105 | 102 | 92 | 86 | 72 | 72 | 70 | 64 | 56 | 55 | 49 | 47 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | 44 | 43 | 40 | 38 | 38 | 38 | 38 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 34 | 34 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 27 |
| 27 | 27 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 17 |
| 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
You can see that about 85% of the members are invisible to almost everyone because the are poorly linked. Of 360 members, only 34 have more than 30 connections. That's the minimal; number to have a viable network in my opinion. This is a problem of consumer awareness. Lack of engagement. Not understanding how the network works. These numbers are a bit old now, but the same pattern applies.
One of the best features of LinkedIn is the ability to ask questions of your network, but if you only connect to ten people, only ten people will ever see your question. Your chances of getting the best response is small.
Generally speaking networks of more than 30 people start to be useful. People with 30 or more connections are the top 10% of all members.
in 2010 the top 10% of LinkedIn members in New Zealand have more than 162 connections. The median level of connections is 37. The bottom 10% have less than 25 connections, perhaps many less (I can't be sure because many people are invisible even though they did join.).
For New Zealand as a whole, there are about 50,000 members, about 2800 of them have more than 500 connections. The top connector has more than 12,000. Some 15,500 are invisible because the have inadequate connections to other members. About 30% of the members are CEO's or business owners or senior board members. A small number of companies encourage many staff members to get involved. Government departments and local body councils are noticeable by their lack of representation, but that's improving.
There is a help file for people joining LinkedIn here.
