Why Yahoo should buy LinkedIn

While much of the attention has been focused on Yahoo's alleged pursuit of Facebook the company would be better served in the long run by buying LinkedIn. Why? A few reasons.

1. LinkedIn could be receptive. LinkedIn co-founder Konstantin Guericke joined Jaxtr as CEO today. And yes his LinkedIn profile is already changed. Jaxtr has generated some buzz by linking phone and online networks. (Just what I need: someone calling my blog. But I digress.) These changing of the guard moments often spark a reevaluation of a company's standing. LinkedIn's standing is pretty good, but perhaps remaining management wants an exit strategy.
2. Over time LinkedIn's audience could be more valuable. Your career lasts more than 40 years and if all your colleagues are on LinkedIn chances are you will be too. Sure Facebook and MySpace have better demographics for advertisers, but these people grow up. They get jobs. Facebook for the most part is still associated with college. MySpace is this entertainment, kid-type thing morphing into a portal.

3. A purchase of LinkedIn means Yahoo will get MySpace's users in the end. My rough social site graduation matrix looks something like this: MySpace folks graduate to become Facebook users and then those people head to LinkedIn.

If Yahoo really wants to end the MySpace menace perhaps it should buy Facebook and LinkedIn. Then MySpace users would graduate to Yahoo.