LinkedIn is getting rather large.  Yesterday evening, the network's vice president of marketing announced on Twitter that it had hit a milestone in terms of users, attracting its 60 millionth member.

LinkedIn had just 55 million members as of December 17th, so this new declaration means it's grown by a little more than nine percent in less than two months (which translates to a rate of at least 109 percent per year).  That increase in size is, it should be needless to say, impressive.

Patrick Crane's announcement had some positive implications regarding LinkedIn's reach, too.  Consider that the 60 millionth member doesn't live in Silicon Valley or some other part of California.  Instead, he (or she) is located several thousand miles away in the Netherlands.

Of course, for the sake of putting things in perspective, we should note that Facebook passed the 400 million user mark this month.  Also, about 70 percent of Facebook's members live outside the U.S.  So it's not like LinkedIn has captured the global social/professional networking crown.

Just the same, LinkedIn has made some impressive strides, and within its niche, is certainly putting some space between itself and its competitors.  Hat tip goes to Leena Rao.