How many emails have you received this week from members of LinkedIn adding you to their profiles? Whilst I haven't quite figured out how to use LinkedIn, my network is growing rapidly and unlike my MySpace network, I actually know most of the contacts in my LinkedIn network.

Last week, LinkedIn ranked #170 among Net Communities and Chat websites and #44 among Employment & Training websites based on share of UK internet visits on Hitwise. The site has experienced strong growth in the past few months – with its market share of UK internet visits increasing 16% in the past month, 35% in the past three months and 537% in the past 6 months.

I looked through the top 170 Net Communities and Chat websites and LinkedIn was one of only two sites aimed at connecting professionals – the other was ecademy.

LinkedIn usage seems to be closely tied to social networking and job hunting.
* Last week, 5.84% of downstream visits from LinkedIn went to other social networking sites and a further 6.82% went to Employment and Training websites.
* The social networking sites most often visited after LinkedIn last week were FriendsReunited UK, MySpace and Genes Reunited.
* Whilst Monster was the top upstream Employment and Training website sending visits to LinkedIn last week, it was #8 downstream. Exec-Appointments.com, Jobsite UK and Jobserve were the top three downstream Employment and Training sites last week.

LinkedIn also has a different profile of visitor from many other social networking sites – attracting urban professionals.
* 32% of UK visits in the past four weeks coming from visitors in the 25-34 age range.
* Visits are also concentrated in London and the South East. The figure below illustrates that 50% of site visits came from those two regions in the past four weeks.

Note. This post originally appeared on Hitwise blog here.