LinkedIn is set to launch a feature within its main feed that will give you more curated information and opinion on topics relevant to your profession. The company wants to help its 467 million members learn more about the issues that are most important to them and their careers. The upcoming change is part of a site redesign LinkedIn previewed at a media briefing in September.
LinkedIn LinkedIn's forthcoming "Interest Feed," as depicted in a search query, will organize news and insights by topic.
"We built 'Interest Feed' at LinkedIn, which we're going to launch very soon, to help you stay informed about the ideas and insights that matter to you in your own area," says Tomer Cohen, head of content, search and discovery products at LinkedIn. "We're building an experience that will be very intuitive for our members to go and explore those directions."
LinkedIn combines algorithms and editorial
LinkedIn pursued news and commentary curation in the past without much success. The professional social network hopes a larger editorial staff and improved algorithms will deliver a more meaningful experience for users by targeting key topics in their industries. "The algorithm is the one taking the signals and the editorial team can highlight a specific story," Cohen says. "This is what I see as one of our strongest assets on LinkedIn, the collaboration between algorithm and editorial working together."
The new Interest Feed is embedded in the site's primary feed, search and articles, and people can use it to find more details about the companies being discussed, current job openings and content highlighted by LinkedIn editors.
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LinkedIn says it invested heavily during the past year to improve content and the feed experience, and results indicate the work is paying off. For example, engaged sessions in the feed, measured by week, jumped 40 percent year over year, and referral traffic to some of LinkedIn's top publishers doubled or tripled during the same period, according to the company.
With Interest Feed, LinkedIn wants to organize its best and most important content to make it easier for users to discover new ideas and developments in their fields. The revamped site and new features are expected to become available later this month.
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