LinkedIn Stepping it Up

In the past few months LinkedIn has rolled out some all new updates to, apparently, make the site all the more user friendly.

For someone who is used to the interface of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn was a big step in a totally different direction for me. I was first introduced to LinkedIn as something I "had to to do for my career!" But upon arrival at the site, I was shocked to be looking at a site that appeared to be from the early '90s, but the professional Baby Boomers were given a site they connected with. Up until quite recently, I haven't spent much time at all connecting and interacting on LinkedIn because the user interface drove me nuts, and I feel as if other students my age would agree with me.

But this new set of website updates helps with user interface issues and makes it all the more excited for up and coming professionals like myself and my fellow college students.

LinkedIn Inbox
The first update was the new LinkedIn Inbox. The original LinkedIn messaging system not only looked outdated at its inception, but was difficult to use. If you wanted to click on a new message you had to click reply in order to just read it. Well, what if I didn't want to reply? Not to mention how it looked like the original Facebook via 2004! NO! I couldn't handle it.

But the new LinkedIn Inbox is more user friendly in the way it allows you to set reminders to email someone back and even look at your previous messages from a contact! Oh goodness, how inventive! LinkedIn is finally catching up with the times.

Source

But to my disappointment, the new LinkedIn inbox isn't available to everyone, nope. So someone who is so ready for a new LinkedIn update, ahem me, doesn't get one! They are simply randomly updating random accounts, and not letting people choose to update.


LinkedIn Publishing
This new LinkedIn feature is brilliant and one they should have come up with a long time ago called LinkedIn Publishing. LinkedIn publishing allows you to post things past just a basic status. To me, it feels more like a blog post tool. Professionals can use this tool to post longer in-depth pieces about whatever they choose to write about! Users can also search the Publishing function to look at posts other people have published as well. This tool allows for open communication and even more industry related information sharing amongst professionals.

But, like the inbox, this function isn't available to all users, but will be with time. Personally, I am very excited to use this tool to see people's thoughts and comments about things happening in the marketing and PR world that I might not otherwise would have had the opportunity to find out about.

It's taken a lot of people some time to get used to the idea of LinkedIn as a "professional Facebook" and many professionals still don't use it, but hopefully these new rollouts and ones I'm sure will happen in the future, will make LinkedIn all the more user friendly and appealing to professionals of all generations.