What? Another article about LinkedIn? Come on! This is like beating a dead horse. And we already know this horse isn’t really dead (more like a healthy thoroughbred).
This is social media for you, though. There’s always something new. Updates. Revamps. Improvements. Why do you think Apple keeps releasing a newer iPhone almost every minute? That’s the state of technology. So needless to say, we have to stay on top of things, and this is no exception.
It’s No Surprise That LinkedIn Holds the Championship Belt for Business Networking, But….
What’s funny is that stats say that even now with the slickness and coolness of LinkedIn, we’re still somewhat under-utilizing the site! Good for LinkedIn on addressing the specific problem: accessibility.
Many of us don’t know what LinkedIn is capable of, because we can’t easily access it. Social media’s about convenience. In all honesty, that’s been a slight disadvantage to LinkedIn for quite some time.
So what has LinkedIn done? Starting with….
New Activity Notifications
Now we’re getting somewhere, people. LinkedIn has jumped on the bandwagon and taken their efficient call center and auto attendant engine of corporate social media stardom and injected that little bit of Facebook phenomenon into the mix. A little bit more real-time two-way communication.
No. They’re not going to put CastleVille or Bubble Safari. Sorry.
But that’s okay. What do I mean by activity notifications? Notice those tiny windows popping at the bottom of your screen of your Facebook page notifying you of one of your friend’s activities? Maybe they’re responding to one of your messages, liking one of your posts, posting a new post fed directly to your wall.
That’s what LinkedIn’s doing now.
For the first time, you — the business, the corporation, the entrepreneur — can see in real-time responses other companies or prospective employees or clients are sending to you.
The main benefit is obvious. LinkedIn becomes more than just a connection hub. It’s about communication, real-time networking. It’s without the characteristic chat messages or Facebook Skype or Google+ Hangout features, though, but that’s okay. LinkedIn’s not trying to go all too social here. It’s still about business networking — just optimized better.
Expect those notifications to appear on your Android and iOS devices as well.
The Other Feature Is an Updated Company Page Look
One thing’s for sure: LinkedIn listens. They hear what works, and what doesn’t. They consider feedback important. So they changed up how pages look for companies, so they’re much more accessible to members and prospective clients/customers/employees.
They’re sleeker. More corporate. But not stale and industrial-looking.
They maneuvered updates for companies on LinkedIn to be right up in front. That means the moment you view a company’s LinkedIn profile, you see all the updates without having to click on any other link, and you can comment right away if you want.
In addition, LinkedIn now has it possible for companies to add whatever images they want as their “headers” to the company. Instead of using the tiny little “avatar” you have, you can use a banner that best describes your corporation. In a way, that’s turning your LinkedIn profile into not just a ‘profile,’ but a professional web site. Nice.
And the best thing of all? Company pages on LinkedIn are also now available on Android, iPhone, and iPads. That’s money.
Any Drawbacks? No. Sorry. I Just Can’t Do It.
So this will be the conclusion here (I know. It’s trite.). Almost anti-climactic.
Give me a break, though! This is LinkedIn we’re talking about. Why do you think I gave this review a clean 5 stars?
The big reason why LinkedIn’s on the right track is, one — it works, period — and two — they’re not over-updating their stuff — and three, they’re updating and changing things for the right reasons.
Social media is not a static entity. It’s always changing. It’s always evolving.
But the bottom line is if it works, it probably won’t stop working (unless you’re a car without oil or fuel, or a fridge without Freon). And LinkedIn just won’t stop working. Plain and simple. Why change that?
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