Comscore looks at LinkedIn’s web penetration numbers across different countries and comes to this conclusion:

It was only a matter of time before online social networking fused with real-world business networking in a meaningful way, and LinkedIn is a testament to the emergence of this trend. It should not come as much of a surprise then that LinkedIn attracted 50 million visitors worldwide in July, up 16% in just the past six months. Perhaps more importantly, the site is beginning to surpass 10% penetration, an important critical mass threshold at which many networks begin to expand virally.

And, here’s a pretty chart to go with that:

Comscore also adds:

In this increasingly global economy, utilities like LinkedIn will only grow in importance in helping connect people and cross borders. In this case, it is helping me get to know more about my new colleagues, and that is a very good thing.

I couldn’t agree more. Increasingly my work educating companies on how best to use LinkedIn, has brought me in touch with global teams that are using LinkedIn to collaborate.

Stay tuned for more on this topic – Global social media trends. If you work for a multinational corporation and if your team’s using LinkedIn today, leave a comment. And, if you’re not, but have questions on how to get started, leave a comment as well. Would love to hear your stories.