LinkedIn and Facebook Partnership Rumors

Everybody likes a rumor. But Wall Street loves a rumor.

Yesterday, there was chatter about a potential LinkedIn and Facebook Partnership. Who started this rumor? Who knows. It probably comes from a source of a source who overhead something in a bathroom. But yesterday, Business Insider reported that LinkedIn may be reporting on a partnership with Facebook and that it had “maybe something to do with jobs listings.”

It’s hard if not impossible to tell what drives stock prices, but LinkedIn did have a great day: the stock closed up over 5%. If the chatter has anything to do with that 5% appreciation, it would be clear that investors like the idea of a LinkedIn Facebook partnership deal. Facebook is by far the world’s most popular website. However, Facebook has little to do with the professional sphere of life – users tend to separate their profiles into personal updates on Facebook and professional updates on LinkedIn. Any kind of combined partnership would promise the incredibly vast network of Facebook and the focused recruitment aspect and use of LinkedIn.

LinkedIn doesn’t appear externally to have any relationship with Facebook except as a competitor. You can’t even Facebook like a LinkedIn profile or groups discussion. Conversely, LinkedIn appears to be very friendly with Twitter, and has integrated tweets and Twitter profiles into many aspects of their service. Therefore, a partnership between LinkedIn and Facebook sounds far-fetched.

However, stranger things have happened this year: Google is now in the hardware business and HP is getting out of the computer business. A LinkedIn-Facebook partnership isn’t entirely impossible. It would certainly consolidate social media in an unprecedented way, and create an even more significant force in the recruitment marketplace.