A Comprehensive Review of Professional Network Impact on Education and Career

Abstract

In their very beginnings, when social networks were solely used for leisure purposes, any action performed online had minimal effect on the real world lives of their members. This has very much changed in our modern world, where becoming an influencer on Instagram can substantially raise one's income, politics is done on Twitter, and an inappropriate video posted on YouTube can get one fired. Similarly, professional networks have changed the approach universities take to prepare their students, the mechanisms behind companies seeking expertise, and the way in which professionals land matching jobs. In the context of discussing the benefits and pitfalls of using such platforms, several points relating to data privacy are highlighted. Additionally, for a complete view of all analytics possibilities, a survey was conducted by looking over 24 research papers, summarising their findings, detailing the six generic research areas which were identified and speculating on what the future might hold.