Wanted: people popping in more often, so LinkedIn launches online newspaper
People pop in once in a while to update their business profile - but LinkedIn wants more than that. It believes its shared 'newspaper' will bring in the extra traffic.
The new service, LinkedIn Today, will provide tasters of the most popular articles in various industries. The company hopes it will drive users to interact more on its website.
LinkedIn's money comes from advertising and premium services. Although popular with job-hunters and people wanting to expand their business contacts, it has lagged behind Facebook and Twitter when it comes to user activity.
LinkedIn says more than one million messages are shared daily by members of the network."Quite a few of our members are already sharing content ," said LinkedIn product head Deep Nishar. "There will be more when users see what happens when you share and interact with the network."
LinkedIn plans to go public this year. In its public offering registration statement filed in January, LinkedIn said that a "substantial majority" of its members do not visit the site on a monthly basis. The challenge, say analysts, is to get its members more deeply engaged in the network, other than just dropping by once in a while to update their business profile.
LinkedIn users will be able to create separate news pages for up to 22 industries of interest, including the Internet and Healthcare. Articles will appear in LinkedIn Today based upon how often they have been shared by members of LinkedIn.The news will also available on LinkedIn's iPhone app.