100 million members and counting…

Today, LinkedIn reached a major milestone: 100 million professionals worldwide.

We’re now growing at roughly one million new LinkedIn members every week, the equivalent of a professional joining the site at faster than one member per second.

So, what does all this growth really mean? We’re making great progress toward our ultimate goal: to connect all of the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.

To visualize how far we've come, both in user growth and user engagement, Scott Nicholson and Anita Lillie, two of the very talented members of our data sciences team, put together some key statistics in an infographic that captures how we got here. (Scroll down for infographic below.)

This isn’t just a big milestone for us — 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.  Each of our 100 million members has a unique story — from finding a job, to recruiting talent, to sourcing new deals, and even starting a business.

For example, take Dutch tech consultant Henk Van Ess, who, after frustration with his 3G iPhone’s battery life, used LinkedIn Groups to find partners and start a global business selling iPhone batteries. There’s also, Barbara Lemaire who found key benefactors for her non-profit organization on LinkedIn, helping homeless women and children rebuild their lives. Then, there are the personal stories, like Alice Shapiro, who after losing her job and home, used a LinkedIn connection to help her become a published author.

We’re also rapidly growing our network globally — our site is currently used in over 200 countries and territories around the world, with more than half of our users coming from outside of the U.S. You can now connect just as readily with someone in Sao Paulo or Singapore as you can with your colleagues in San Francisco, London or New York.  You no longer have to live in the same city — or even the same country — to build and strengthen relationships that can help you succeed and grow professionally and fundamentally transform the trajectory of your career path.

We want to thank all of you, our 100 million members, for making this happen. Your experiences, connections, and shared knowledge are what make LinkedIn so powerful to each and every one of us.

Best of all, we're just getting started.  Here’s to the next 100 million members.

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