By Mike King
Maybe it’s my age that’s causing resistance to change, but news that LinkedIn has announced the addition of ‘follower’ functionality to its site doesn’t strike me as particularly welcome. In an attempt to become another me-too social media site, the network for business users has formed a new panel of influencers and is allowing other LinkedIn users to follow them without having to connect directly.
Apart from the glaring lack of originality in the idea (there’s already ample opportunity to follow these individuals elsewhere on the web) LinkedIn seems to be completely missing the point. The site is very successful (it is by far the largest networking site for professionals with more than 175million users) and there’s a clear reason why - people find it useful as it is. Its financial performance would support this, with revenue more than doubling year on year in its last completed year to December 2011.
LinkedIn has clear differentiation from other sites (of course there are other online business networks like Plaxo and Viadeo, for example, but none that have the size and influence of LinkedIn). It is great for keeping in touch with ex-colleagues and for tracking down people you’ve worked with in the past, or would like to work with in the future. Its clear focus and relative absence of crap and pointless noise compared to other social networking sites are precisely why it is so successful.
LinkedIn is essentially a global directory of business professionals. This may be a fairly basic proposition but there’s nothing wrong with that. Trying to change itself to become something it isn’t strikes me as a mistake.
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