Makeover... Takeover.... Two words, that are so closely related and often mistaken one for the other.
One is a complete transformation of appearance and the other is a transition of control from one to another. Both of them are essential when things are looking not-so-good or if something needs a change from the regular (you know, just to spice things up for better, like, let’s say attraction?)
Who doesn’t like to get a makeover once in a while? While it adds a significant boost to the way one appears, it can also do a lot to kick up ones confidence. However, takeover... one might not really be gung-ho about this particular transition - it may be for the good ultimately but yet, people are generally vary of this...
Now imagine a case with both these done? Yes my dears... LinkedIn's very new face. Taken over by Microsoft, this popular business site has re-vamped its appearance and some of its features too. So let’s take a swift glimpse into what these 'changes' are:
1 – Homepage: Of course, you cannot call it a makeover if there’s no change in appearance now can we? The new homepage looks much sleek (if I should say!) It matches its app counterpart (oh, did I mention the changes you can 'see' only when you log in on a desktop?) They do have a beautiful teal color for the theme – aah! All in all this homepage is more streamlined with core areas in highlight
2 – Easy Messaging Option: Allows you to respond immediately for posts of interest from anywhere – similar to Facebook posting (They've done away with the earlier email kind of messaging to your connections. Though if you reaching out to a new connect, it still says 'InMail')
3 – Better Feed/Notifications: An interactive interface that pops up your connections' relevant events and dates of importance, people who clicked on your profile or followed/endorsed you or engaged with your articles... so much more. Basically it pushes the content that you mostly will care about and helps you go deeper into topics of your interest. (talk about a site that cares for your interest!)
4 – Search Option: Though there is no 'advance search', the search box becomes a universal one to search for 'all' related words – people, companies, schools, groups, etc. This feature is enhanced to give more options by being intuitive in giving out results (through understanding why you are searching for them!)
5 – Profile: The site offers suggestions to improve your profile like what skills can be added that makes your profile more interesting. A unique 'Me' section has a whole lot of new information that you can upload to complete your profile. It is literally 'blowing your own trumpet' scenario – so just be cautious not to overdo this section just because you have a chance...
6 – Connections: Get to know your connections better. Even better is this feature that allows you to see (and help you connect) with those who are engaging with your posts and those who are interested in your updates! What better way to expand your connections than include those who are interested in you, your product, your business...
Apart from these there are few other minor changes such as:
- If you share a post, photo or update it is named as articles but appears as post. There’s an option of 'write an article' (below the share a photo, article or post) which is nothing but the old 'publish a post' option.
- There’s a 'more/work' option that allows you to explore a lot more this site has to offer (LinkedIn learning, Talent solutions, Lookup, SlideShare, ProFinder, Post a Job, Groups)
- The new interface lets you easily accept, message or delete your connections (excludes all that sorting features and tags)
- Background photo specs have changed to 1536 X 768 px
- The profile ranking feature is available only in the Premium version now
This is a simplified version of the earlier site, doing away with most clutter (read tags, layout issues, etc). If anything, this should really improve or boost the relation between connections. Though I am yet to jot down what’s the difference in the company page outlook, this at least should give you a start to experience the difference. I'll be glad if there are pointers that I could use (here too) in my next blog on the difference in a company page. Do write to me dears.
