LinkedIn has been one of the leading social networks in the world for years, and the dominate one for working professionals. Since the site launched, however, there has been very little real change in the way their desktop version looked and operated. Just recently, however, the site got an all new interface that was designed from the ground up.
To start with, there is a greater focus on the ‘core’ areas of the site. These areas, seven of them in all, are now much more clearly featured and will be easier to get to from anywhere on the site. The focused topics include the home page, messaging, jobs, notifications, ‘me’, my network & search, and then a section for ‘more’ which will include all the other pages and features.
The main ‘feed’ that displays different content to different people has also gotten a whole new look and feel. Even the algorithms that are used to choose what content each person sees has been updated. A lot of the change in this area is surrounding giving people more information about the people, and not just the content. For example, when someone publishes content onto LinkedIn, it will provide them with information about who clicks and reads it, as well as where they work. This could be very powerful for using LinkedIn to target audiences.
A new search function has been included so that users can more easily find what they are looking for. There are also some advanced features for search that allow users to refine what they are looking for to get better results.
For many people active on LinkedIn, the last major innovation will be very welcomed. A new messaging layout. The LinkedIn messaging was a mess and very awkward to use. The new system will function much more like Facebook Messenger, which has a simple and easy to use interface.
This is a big change for LinkedIn, but it seems like it is a good one that will be beneficial to both the average users, and those who use LinkedIn as part of a marketing strategy.
