LinkedIn Reaches 100 Million Users

Mountain View-based , the online professional networking company, announced today that it has reached the 100 million-user mark.

"This isn’t just a big milestone for us," CEO Jeff Weiner wrote Tuesday on the company blog. "It’s also an important one for all of you, our members, who’ve helped build the LinkedIn network. We’re most inspired that by connecting talent with opportunity at massive scale, we’re changing people’s lives in meaningful and sustainable ways."

This milestone certainly doesn't hurt the privately held Mountain View-based company, which has flirted with an , according to eMarketer analyst Kimberly Maul.

"It definitely does make the company a little more attractive, showing that they are reaching more members and reaching out to new users daily," said Maul, who analyzes social media companies. "But what I think they need to focus on is getting the users that they have to interact on the site and keep coming back to the site."

Maul acknowledged that the company had expressed the desire to work toward getting users to participate more on the site. Recently LinkedIn also announced that it has created a daily email newsletter called LinkedIn Today and that it has "deepened its relationship with Twitter" and launched a new iPhone application. On Monday, LinkedIn also launched its college student job portal site—a segment of the population highly used to online social interactions.

"I think that they are working toward that with some of the newer services that they have recently launched," she said. "I think that's going to be the big focus for them going forward."

Mountain View Patch couldn't get more forward-looking information from LinkedIn, because it has filed its S-1 form with the Securities and Exchange Commission, said Hani Durzy, a company spokesman. 

However, Durzy added, "we are growing—in Mountain View and around the world." LinkedIn is hiring for 170 positions globally, of which 78 are in Mountain View.

Co-founded with Reid Hoffman in 2002, LinkedIn officially launched on May 5, 2003. After the first month, the small company grew to 4,500 members.

According to LinkedIn, the company gains about 1 million new members every week, and, in total, members represent more than 200 countries and territories around the world. Brazil leads the growth followed by users in Mexico.

"You no longer have to live in the same city or even the same country," said Weiner, "to build and strengthen relationships that can help you succeed and grow professionally and fundamentally transform the trajectory of your career path."