LinkedIn is consistently included in lists of top Social Media networks to be on. I’ll grant you that it’s been around a long time, and has a reputation for being the more serious-minded of the new media siblings.
LinkedIn has often benefitted from a reputation as being a business professional’s best online friend. You don’t get the frivolous stream-of-consciousness that personifies Twitter, and you avoid the trendy, overtly-personal, and equally frivolous online monster that FaceBook has become. LinkedIn seems almost refreshingly “serious” by comparison.
That is…if it isn’t so busy trying to figure out what it’s trying to be all the time.
About a year ago, I purposely put myself in online communities of people who are REALLY into LinkedIn. Members of these groups routinely post about the most minute (and sometimes flagrant) changes being made at LinkedIn daily. It’s been an eye-opener. …and when I say “daily”, I mean daily.
Sure, Facebook, too, makes noticeable changes in their permissions, policies, features, and offering quite often too…but to hear the LinkedIn aficionados tell it, LinkedIn almost always shoots themselves in the foot by:
- removing essential features
- changing popular programs
- adding unwanted content
- altering the user interface to make it more confusing
- capriciously altering member agreements
- making on-off-on changes with no notice
I’d give you examples, but it’s probably already changed. Much of it has to do with an apparent edict from LinkedIn higher-ups to change the basic nature of LinkedIn to a major content-producing platform. Not everyone was happy about that.
A recent (2/5/16) analytical article on recode.net claims the company’s stock is in a nose dive (meeting predictions), and that LinkedIn’s unique monthly visitors didn’t grow in the second half of 2015…all while continuing to add new members.
So where am I going with all this?
Be forewarned, LI may not look like it did the last time you visited if it’s been a few weeks…or even a few days. Also know that you may have to constantly put yourself in a LinkedIn user learning-curve for the foreseeable future. You might want to spend more time than usual keeping up with all that’s going on with the platform, and below I’ve got links to some recent resources.
In the meantime, much of the rich feature-set that you’re used to having at your fingertips is still there. All the search, research, and information browsing you depend on LI for is largely still there…it just may look a little different.
Don’t take this as a warning to stay away from LinkedIn…just that there is much afoot behind the scenes these days. I take it as a plus that the people at the top within LI are willing to stay agile…but a negative that they seem to be doing so with little warning or plumbing of the membership.
Checkout the following links for some info on recent LI changes. A good place to visit often would be the LinkedIn Blog.
4 LinkedIn Updates You Need to Know About for 2016
Big Changes to LinkedIn Help Center
7 Major Changes LinkedIn has in Store for 2016
LinkedIn Group Changes and How They Affect Your Marketing
7 LinkedIn Changes That Will Help You Get Hired
CourVO
