Linkedin connections - who owns them?

While there is a fair bit of difference over the who, why and what the general consensus emerging is personal contacts held in a public forum, like Linkedin or any other social networking platform, should continue to be held by the individual.

I agree with this view but can understand things get complicated when people move jobs and try to take previous business relationships and clients to their new post.

Similarly if someone is building up a company profile or speaking on behalf of the company then things are a bit murkier.

Now as a journalist there are contacts I have I would never dream of putting on a public forum and I imagine this scenario would be similar for other professions.

Even though I have ready access to press officers and public relations professionals representing all manner of companies it is the mobile numbers and email addresses of CEOs I have met which often prove extremely valuable when working on a story.

They are the people with the extra insight and knowledge who can provide informed and weighty comment.

One of the really interesting aspects to emerge from the discussion is just how powerful a new business driver Linkedin can be.

An example highlighted concerns a business growing from £25,000 turnover per month to £600,000 per month with Linkedin playing a major factor.

Meanwhile Fiona Crichton, commercial manager at the SECC, says the business has benefited enormously from the connections she has forged using the platform.

Having shown its worth Crichton has convinced several more of the sales oriented staff at the venue to begin using Linkedin.

So while there is still a recognition "people buy from people" and relationships are key to selling the message which comes across loud and clear is if your company is not using social media - and empowering staff to use it - it could be missing out on a lot of potential business.