OK so
LinkedIn have released an API for developers to be able to more effectively create and link applications to LinkedIn. However before you start taking calls from dodgy consulting companies, spending money and attending seminars and webinars here are some things you should be aware of;
API stands for
Application Protocol Interface, or in other words a piece of software that lets one piece of software talk to another piece of software. The API effectively allows third party systems to access and display data that currently already exists on LinkedIn.
So here's the rub. If you are not already using LinkedIn and don't have an active LinkedIn presence then the LinkedIn API is not going to be of any benefit to you. It does not magically connect you with people you are not already connected to. It does not magically open up the LinkedIn database of contact details for you to search and extract data from. The API simply allows you to access the same information you already can through LinkedIn.com, but from different places, and possibly presented in different ways. But it is still the same LinkedIn data you can (or can't) access today.
So to take real advantage of LinkedIn you need to be using it as the networking tool it is intended to be.
There are no shortcuts or magic placements in this for you. You need to be a
trusted person, treating people with the same respect you would if you met them in a room.
Remember if you can't work a room then you probably can't work LinkedIn.
Here is an extract from a recent
article;
LinkedIn has a significant "anti-harvesting" feature built into its API where it only allows you to get profile information for friends that are directly connected to you. This means that you can't use the API to crawl networks of second or third level contacts in order to build your own repository of LinkedIn user data. LinkedIn is also not providing user's emails via the API.
The real upside to the API is that it allows current
active LinkedIn networkers to utilise the system from more places and in more ways. For example Blackberry are about to release a LinkedIn application. This is exciting if you are an active LinkedIn and Blackberry user.
So before you worry too much about LinkedIn APIs and recruitment systems with LinkedIn logos all through them,
just remember that it is all only as good as your LinkedIn profile and reputation are today. To take full advantage of these tools you need to be, or become, fully engaged in LinkedIn today.
So off you pop, go and login and start working the room.