The power of LinkedIn: Will professionals leave their organizations for professional advancement because of their use of LinkedIn?

With the growth of Web 2.0/3.0, social network sites have been created for various purposes for a wide spectrum of users. Creating a digital footprint has become imperative, especially for professionals seeking career development and professional advancement. This study explores professionals’ intention to leave an organization for professional advancement (ILPA) based on their use of a professional social network site, LinkedIn. Our framework leverages self-determination theory (SDT) to demonstrate why professionals use this online social networking service. To validate our theoretical framework, 379 randomly selected active LinkedIn users completed an online questionnaire. The extent to which using LinkedIn influences ILPA is examined and the results support all our hypotheses. Our post-hoc analysis indicates a strong relationship between needing support and motivation for participating in LinkedIn. We attempt to explain the findings by using the time perspective concept. This study is also of practical value to companies seeking to set policies to retain professionals. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.