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The OC to LinkedIn: We are SO NOT Los Angeles!
The Orange stands alone. Photo by ccharmon via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
Users of the business-oriented social networking site LinkedIn who are based in Orange County are sick of being considered part of "greater Los Angeles." One user, Laguna Niguel's Sven Johnston, has "spearheaded the campaign to get the O.C. recognition," apart from L.A. explains the OC Register's Jan Norman in a blog post.
Johnston, who works in Irvine, "started pushing in May for Orange County recognition and formed a LinkedIn group called We Are Orange County that quickly grew to more than 3,000 members." Among the many points raised by Johnston in his contact with the site's leaders was that "Orange County has its own identity in business, in networking and every other aspect of life." (Angelenos, are you nodding in agreement?) Another issue raised is that if you're conducting business via the site it's misleading to think an OC company is in the LA area:
Members received job offers just to find out that their commute would be over 3 hours, because the recruiter thought they lived in Los Angeles. Linkedin is about connecting online, but it is also heavily used for people to connect offline. There is a considerable difference if one has to drive 10 or 100 miles to meet someone for coffee.
It looks like LinkedIn may be getting hip to the cries of those behind the Orange Curtain who wish to distinguish themselves from the LA fold. Says Bill Crane, the VP of engineering at the site, "local members of the social networking site may have Orange County as a geographic designation for members’ profiles within two weeks."
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