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So What is LinkedIn Today?
Think about the last time you read the newspaper or read the news online. There is no doubt you were flipping and
clicking through the pages that do not interest you (just yesterday I witnessed my brother chant “boring” after each turn of the page until the sports section appeared). Fortunately, there is a new solution that allows LinkedIn users easy access to only the news that interests them. After all, one of the easiest ways a person can get ahead is by staying informed about the latest news in their field. This solution will get people the knowledge they need faster while using a social networking platform. Aside from allowing users to skip the news sections that do not interest them, LinkedIn Today works as a condensing tool when it comes to the many news outlets. By enacting LinkedIn Today, your job of finding good, quality articles that related to your career is more-or-less eliminated.
LinkedIn Today is a standalone website that pulls the latest business news articles that are most closely related to the information you have provided on LinkedIn. There are few different ways the website will pull news stories:
Even Less Flips and Clicks – How LinkedIn Today Works
1. Look at your connections
With LinkedIn Today it is possible to “share” specific articles. If you have a LinkedIn, you know that most of your connections are your co-workers or those who work within your field (unlike Facebook where your connections are mainly your friends and family). If any of your connections “share” an article LinkedIn Today will pull that article and highlight it as something that may interest you.
2. Look at the industries you follow
Chances are if you are actively using LinkedIn you are “following” specific industries. Whether it be the industry you work in or another industry that interests you (or you hope to work in once the job arises), LinkedIn today finds the top headlines across these industries and puts them on your Front Page for you to read. In other words, your days of going to that specific section in USA Today, The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, and then your local paper, are over.
3. Connections between industries
Even if you are new to the LinkedIn world, you will still be able to start finding a variety of news articles if you “follow” just one industry. The way it works is this: LinkedIn Today highlights the top articles for your industry and then looks across all industries to see what is being said about that article. This feature will allow you to make connections about what is going on in the news across the board.
Tap Into LinkedIn Today—How Publishers Can Take Advantage
If you are a company looking to tap into this new content medium, there are many options. The most important thing to remember is the idea that users of LinkedIn Today get articles based on their popularity amongst their connections, industries, and connected industries. Knowing this, there are several things you can do to make sure your content gets involved—all of which deal with sharing your content as much as possible. A few ways to get your content’s popularity up include:
• Post as an update — Share your articles by posting them as updates on your LinkedIn profile. This way, all of your connections will be able to view your articles and start spreading the word.
• Share Button – As a publisher, you should add a share button on each of the articles you post. This button gives readers an easy way to share your article (instead of leaving all the work to you). This button can easily be added through WordPress.
• Twitter – As a publisher, you should link your Twitter account to your LinkedIn account. Any user who tweets your article will count as a share on LinkedIn Today.
LinkedIn Today is convenient in what it offers as well as how it is used. Social media websites are clearly taking over the World Wide Web, and LinkedIn Today is slowly becoming one of the best in terms of news production. Suddenly the “boring, boring, boring” chant my brother sings will become “interesting, interesting, interesting,” and this is not only a benefit to users, but to publishers just the same. If you want to be part of the “interesting” news, LinkedIn Today is a great place to start.
Amanda DiSilvestro is a writer on topics ranging from social media to fleet tracking. She writes for an online resource that gives advice on topics including gps tracking devices to small businesses and entrepreneurs at Resource Nation.
