LinkedIn: Work vs. Friends
The Wall Street Journal just published an article about LinkendIn redesigning for a major update. The new features were tested in international markets beginning in Spring 2020. The most controversial new feature is a story setting much like in Snapchat or the other social media platforms that have adopted this temporary posting model. As a resume centered platform, it was unknown how stories would be used in a business and career context. They found that the stories were used for work related content such as drawing attention to peer’s work in addition to their own. Another significant change involves embedded video calling services through other providers like Zoom and BlueJeans and an “Open to Work” profile frame. According to LinkedIn, the goal of the update is to increase inclusivity and accessibility by making the platform more streamline and intuitive. Others argue that these changes are being implemented in hopes of attracting younger generations at the cost of crowding the platform with new features.
As a platform where people are meant to connect in a professional setting, this relates to edges and the importance of weak ties (or acquaintances) in finding job opportunities. This phenomenon is explained by local bridges in which an two nodes have an edge without neighbors in common. These two nodes have access to the other group and the information from that group, which generally differs from what his/her own group knows. The addition of the story feature adds an additional possibility for connections since it has been used to ask for advice or highlight an industry. The idea of a story itself is interesting because while the image or video “disappears” in 24 hours, the connection remains. This more social aspect of LinkedIn may change network dynamics as colleagues become more tied to friends. As mentioned in class, sometimes the decision to introduce two groups depends on whether you benefit from the situation, which differs between work and social settings. With increasing online interactions due to the pandemic and a greater number of ties across companies in the same field, it will be interesting to see if the path of information changes. As for the addition of “Open to Work”, this creates new connections between companies with open positions and people searching for jobs that are across different industries. This could create additional local bridges which in turn could help find people within a specific industry (who are friends with the “Open to Work” person) a related job. LinkedIn claims that people using “Open to Work” receive more messages and have increased contact with recruiters than those searching independently. I wonder if there is a cascade or contagion behavior in the sending of these messages. If enough messages are sent to a particular “Open to Work” candidate, this could be viewed as high demand and thus generate interest in additional employers. By connecting with competing video conferencing services, LinkedIn may develop unbalanced relationships. However, they are in a more powerful position as the platform offering non-video conferencing services. It will also be interesting to see if there are other similarities between groups of people who prefer the same video conferencing service.
https://blog.linkedin.com/2020/september/24/a-new-look-for-linkedin-from-the-inside-out