Good to see LinkedIn still developing their product, but they’re still very much playing catch-up.

Makes little difference to me as I don’t spend much time networking online (awfully un-PC for an Internet consultant to say that I know), but some people do invest a serious amount of time, energy and effort into it, and LinkedIn aren’t cutting the mustard for those people imho. They don’t need to lead the field – business communities rarely do – but a new idea here and there might keep people interested.

It remains my favourite network, but only because the only social networking I’m interested in doing is for business. If I was into it in any way, I’d be spending my time on Facebook. And I hate Facebook, because their privacy policies are in the “scumbag” realm.

Press release follows, slightly munged to fit into the post nicely. Click the logo to start adding applications to your account.

Today we’re announcing many more ways to interact with your network on LinkedIn. Whether it’s a new way to create projects and collaborate, share information, customize your profile, or gain key insights, the new LinkedIn Applications deliver.

You can add applications that enable you to:

Work collaboratively with your network.

• Box on LinkedIn: Share files and collaborate with your network.
• Huddle on LinkedIn: Private workspaces to collaborate with your network on projects.

Share information and keep up to date with your network.

• Amazon on LinkedIn: Discover what your network is reading.
• TripIt on LinkedIn: See where your network is traveling.
• SixApart on LinkedIn: Stay up to date with your network’s latest blog posts.

Present yourself and your work in new ways.

• Google Docs on LinkedIn: Embed a presentation on your profile.
• SlideShare on LinkedIn: Share, view and comment on presentations from your network.
• WordPress on LinkedIn: Promote your blog and latest posts.

Gain key insights that will make you more effective.

• Company Buzz by LinkedIn: See what people are saying about your company.