Can LinkedIn spoil things for itself?
Posted on December 5, 2007
Filed Under Social Networking / Media |
Being by far the biggest and most successful professional networking site ever, LinkedIn is having it good. But there are already rumblings amongst its most ardent users who feel LinkedIn could yet spoil things for itself.
Can it? How? These questions were posed to LinkedIn users, and what has emerged is a view most users would tend to subscribe to. Here are a few insightful responses:
Digress from goal of professional networking: “Good question. I personally think that LinkedIn can do a lot of things to spoil things, the biggest of which I believe to be ‘doing too much.’ In order words, if LinkedIn tries to implement and offer too much features, or features that have less to do with the LinkedIn goal of professional networking, it will lose. So if we see videos here online, or pictures of each other’s kids, it will cross some borders and I don’t think it can compete with existing applications.” - Wouter Broekman, Owner / Webdesigner at Pyramedia Web Solutions, Netherlands
Selling out to Rupert Murdoch: “Well, if the rumors are true, and Rupert Murdoch buys LinkedIn, I think that will be step one in the site’s decline. You can guarantee at that point that it will become more of an advertising vehicle and media distribution channel for NewsCorp. But like any successful online venture, the point will eventually come where the owners may see the chance to cash out (and understandably so), and that’s always a turning point for an e-business.” - Peter “Dr. Pete” Meyers, President at User Effect / Usability Specialist, USA.
Adding features not needed: “LinkedIn needs to control what it adds so we don’t become MySpace. We need to all work together to keep this a professional site. They also need to stop taking away good features and adding ones we don’t need. Much of the changes on the home page are pointless and a waste of space. One area they definitely need to control is the job posting area. We are seeing far too many fraudulent job postings and these are also being sent to members.” - Sheilah Etheridge, Management and Accounting Consultant, Owner - SME Management, USA
Not following the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid): “Keep it simple! The one thing I originally liked about LinkedIn when I first joined was it’s simplicity and uncluttered interface. Adding feature upon feature, just because some of the others are doing it, will definitely ruin this, and fast. The new frontpage is a good example: If it worked it would probably be good. But since the information on it is outdated and not really updated on a daily basis, the poor quality is hurting everything else on the site too. LinkedIn should definitely focus on quality of content rather than features. If they want more features they should open up the interface more (like with OpenSocial), and let other sites and services add those features. And let the users decide where and when they want to use those.” - Søren Sprogø, Web Analyst at Cofman.com, Denmark
Being a slow mover: “I see LinkedIn to be somewhat a ‘slow-mover’ on implementing new technology. I could in less than five minutes come up with a bunch of features that would be considered as must-have for the majority of the users, and yet easily be implemented by a corporation liked LinkedIn. I believe this is the real danger for the future of LinkedIn, being a slow-mover makes it easier for people to get attracted to other similar but more powerful sites. E.g. Plaxo Pulse is my major bet for a serious competitor. I believe that demands for better useability and more features in these sites will increase dramatically in near future.” - Henrik Brinch, CEO, TriGemini, Denmark
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7 Responses to “Can LinkedIn spoil things for itself?”
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I agree that Linkedin needs to keep the site simple. No Videos, no blogs etc. This isn’t a social website & when you allow people to share photos of their week in Ibiza then this site looses all it’s benefits.
I am hoping that linkedin becomes the recruitment medium of choice for companies. It would be better for my propects for employers to see my CV on this site and recommendations from past engagements. I think at present the old agency filter is still being used with adverts through other job sites. If linkedin could appeal to the hiring companies it maybe able to develop searches and filters for both companies and candidates that would make it the site of choice for jobs. I’m back to job serve now to look for a real job!
Hi Ajay
I agree with those above. Keep it simple.
Keep the noise on MySpace and Facebook. They are not competitors to LinkedIn. It’s a different community. Xing might be a competitor though.
Keep LinkedIn focused on professional networking. It’s great for that. And some sort of tags or notes on each contact would be great.
I think like every product LinkedIn should continuously evolve. ‘Simple’ often refers to an unconcious inability to adapt to unknown features or lethargy that comes with the comfort of familiarity. The way new features should be driven into the system should be seamless without breaking the habits of the old.
One way LinkedIn can spoil itself is by not allowing that intimacy between users and their social graph to sustain. Talking of social graphs, I would much rather know my contacts and their activities, personality better by taking a 3D view than be restricted to a list.
To summarize, keep evolving + satisfy generational contexts + make it mobile + better the opportunity to create a LinkedIn Identity + be the google of social graph
I really liked when LinkedIn kept its site relatively simple with clear updates. However, the new front page seems too cluttered - if need be LinkedIn might want to adopt Facebook’s limited stream of “mini-feeds” instead of taking up most of the page with “today, yesterday, week ago” generic updates.
I’ve always felt that the sorting function for the contact list was too limited and the “ask” function should mimic a forum with clear categories for questions, stickies, classifieds - as I’ve been clicking into numerous invitations to seminars lately.
I believe LinkedIn is a powerful professional networking tool - something that MySpace or Facebook cannot compare. This should be further be developed.
I usually brim with good ideas, but you asked for the worst -
) and advocate for their favorite causes. Sure, they could do this on their own websites, but these topics really draw the search engine hits.
* Open the floodgates to the fraudsters and hucksters:
+ Don’t have any way to get rid of advertisements posing as questions
+ Don’t check whether people use their real identities — who cares?
+ Don’t follow up on complaints or user-to-user feedback. (eBay could ignore this about mere tchotchkes, so it must be a good idea when people’s livelihood is at stake.)
* Abandon decorum:
+ Allow uncontrolled libel. Freedom of speech is more valuable than actual communication.
+ Add non-business features so people can post about their pets and personal interests. Why focus on business and careers when this could become yet another social site?
* Sell out. People with more money than vision would love to exploit LI users until the place is abandoned. Just because Google makes a profit and still gives lip service to being ethical doesn’t mean that mistreating your customers for short term gains aren’t the best way to make money. Look how well it works for the airline industry.
* Go political.
+ Donate money to causes unrelated to your customers. (deregulation / the environment / reproductive choice / preventing infanticide / gun rights / gun control / gay rights / sanctity of marriage / etc. ) are too important to ignore, who cares if a few fanatics are offended?
+ Let users open up blogs about contentious issues (list omitted
+ Start attacking competitors. Why compete on merit when those *(#$& copycats are coming after customers we own because we were first?
Any of the above could really kill LI, but why not try several at once? Most importantly, never, ever listen to your users. Who do they think they are, anyway?
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