The new objectives come two months after LinkedIn met the new boss, as Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is paying $26 billion to buy the platform later this year. But it hopes to incorporate some of Microsoft’s technology as it develops features such as conversational “chat bots”, or software that can carry on limited conversations, answer questions and perform tasks like making reservations.
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LinkedIn on Thursday announced the availability of LinkedIn Learning, a product that capitalizes on the company’s 2015 acquisition of the online learning portal Lynda.
LinkedIn Corp.is redesigning its desktop product, improving the news feed and adding messenger bots, ahead of Microsoft Corp.’s acquisition of the professional social networking company. For example, if you are interested in a job listing on LinkedIn, LinkedIn will automatically display the member who will be more appropriate to help you on this particular listing.
On the messaging side, LinkedIn has added bots that can access users’ Google Calendars to find appropriate meeting times and places.
LinkedIn’s bot will gradually expand to make it easier for users to communicate without the need to open new screens or switching to email services. A new “Interest Feed” will offer a collection of articles, posts and opinion pieces on major news events or current issues.
The company said it also refined its news feed so to give greater priority to posts that are more timely and relevant to members, using criteria such as their employer, their industry and job title, and the city where they work, rather than just the latest item that one of their connections posts.
One feature is LinkedIn Learning, training videos to help professionals learn new skills, such as computer coding, for their careers. But it wants to keep members engaged so they check in regularly and keep their profiles updated.
“It’s increasingly important that we can provide a just-in-time, always on learning platform”, Weiner says. Initially, these bots will be focused around scheduling – executives previewed an experience that will allow users to arrange and schedule meetings via bots – but CEO Jeff Weiner suggested Microsoft could play a role in the company’s future bot plans.
LinkedIn has measured an increase in routine visits to its website and mobile apps over the past year, Roslansky said, even after the company cut back on the volume of email notifications that it sends to members.
LinkedIn showed little integration with Microsoft products during its presentation.
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The company also revealed a redesigned desktop site that more closely mirrors the experience of the company’s mobile app.
