LinkedIn is, of course, the business based social network designed primarily to put together employers and workers. Of the many things I've always seen potential for in LinkedIn is as a source for information. One of the few bits of bac'n I look forward to seeing in my inbox every week is the one from LinkedIn showing me exactly who in my circle has had a title bump, changed companies, sold their company or decided to go work on their "stealth startup" (the new codeword for unemployed).
It's like my own personalized Valleywag meets VentureBeat, giving me the dirt on exactly what's going on with everyone's professional lives.
Beyond that, though, the professional groups that have sprung up on the system, and the ability to ask these groups specific questions that they may be uniquely qualified to answer has been coded in (such as asking folks in a group around video podcasting what the most recommended ad network might be).
I predict that these are the sorts of potentials for story scoops and great feature ideas that CNBC saw when the idea of a partnership with LinkedIn was announced.
LinkedIn CEO Dan Nye outlined some other ways that system users would be affected by the partnership, including increased access and sharing ability to industry news provided by CNBC, and featuring of LinkedIn data on CNBC.com.
LinkedIn company profile provided by TradeVibes