LinkedIn Publishing opened a floodgate of words.
- We have tips on almost everything
- And personal points of view
Members repurpose posts and create original content, hoping to stand out in the leaderboard rush.
LinkedIn Publishing is officially open for business.
Whether or not that’s a good thing remains to be seen.
LinkedIn Publishing
Background
In October 2012, LinkedIn launched its Influencer program. The feature shared the thoughts of business leaders from a list of invitation-only professionals.
At the time, I found the concept a tad annoying.
I prefer selecting my own influencers rather than having someone else decide who makes the cut.
Now I can do that.
- In early 2014, LinkedIn began a rollout of Publishing to all members
- Members can also apply for early access to the new feature
Before the virtual ink dried on the screen, some members were crying foul.
Early Predictions
LinkedIn members feared an influx of spammy, self-serving posts, citing the demise of once popular LinkedIn Groups as evidence. Others expected poorly written, boring submissions.
In my early review of content, thinly disguised marketing missiles appear missing. At least in my feed. However, I have seen a few topics that left me scratching my head.
I have also read some well-written, thoughtful posts. I appreciate access to good content − in any form.
The Future
Will LinkedIn Publishing work for the long run? I suspect the outcome, like most publishing platforms, will produce a mixed bag − some good − some not so good.
- Members may tire of the format
- Individual post frequency will drop off
- Another platform will emerge as the next best thing
I am a long-time fan of LinkedIn. There are features I love.
- Member profiles
- Well-run groups (emphasis on well-run)
- The professional feel (with more and more exceptions – in my humble opinion)
There are features I hate.
- Endorsements
- Updates with a Facebook influence
- Members who use personal messaging for their latest webinar
The following fall on the plus side for Publishing.
- Good platform for promoting strengths and brand
- Presents additional opportunities for sharing expertise
- Potential for building readership and increasing online visibility
The minus side of Publishing (so far) includes:
- The avalanche of submissions that occur with a new platform
- The daily notifications of who in your network published a new post
I have a feeling that last point is going to hit the annoyance level of Endorsements. There appears no way to turn it off.
While I do appreciate knowing when certain connections publish, I wish there was a better notification system. Something I could refer to when I schedule the time for reading. Maybe a feed would work better.
By the way, if you want to know if you have access to LinkedIn Publishing, check your Share an update box on the Home page. If you have a pencil (as shown below), you have access.
I will give LinkedIn Publishing a tryout. I posted my first submission, 3 Simple Business Communication Truths.
What do you think?
Do you have access?
Have you posted to LinkedIn Publishing (or plan to)?
===================
Helping you Keep it simple, clear & uniquely yours – contact me for help with your business writing needs.
=====================
Thanks for writing this Cathy. I love LinkedIn and find a good way to connect with other professionals. I had been considering publishing there, so this post is very timely.
Good to know, Laura. Yours is one I will definitely not mind being notified about. 😉 Looking forward to your submissions.
Hopefully I’ll get to it soon. It’s been a hectic summer. This is something I’ve thought about for quite a while, though.
My first one came as a result of a recent business trip with cancelled flights and plenty of time on my hands. 😉
First of all, I knew nothing about this- so thank you. I applied. (And, now you will know if I have been rejected… sob, sob….)
Secondly, I am with you about the “influencers”. The only influence they have with me is to get off that page- promptly. Of course, my interests are pretty bizarre, but I think letting folks who is or is not someone they want to follow is a critical business consideration. And, LinkedIn avers they are for business….
I also never understood the “endorsement”. Oh, I’m honored when I get them- and I give them. But, it looks to me that folks have endorsed people just because. After all, if I know “John Brown” or “Sue Doe” is useless- how can someone endorse them??? (for money, perhaps???)
You’re welcome, Roy. I think it would be a great platform for you. I agree with you about Endorsements. I appreciate when someone gives me one and I’ll return the favor – to people I KNOW – but I think they hold little value.
Let me know when you get accepted. I know you will. They let me in early 😉
Very timely, Cathy. I’ve also just published my first post. I do agree that the LinkedIn notifications are becoming overwhelming, though.
Twins, Sharon. 😉 And, of course, yours is not a post I’ve been notified about. LOL!
I finally have access, and am trying to decide if this is something I want to move forward with. I’ve wanted to increase my LI use in general, so it might be a good opportunity to update my profile and give LI publishing a shot.
Yeah, we’ll see how it goes, Jenn. It could end up like SlideShare. While I still receive several views, they are far lower in number than when I first started posting when SlideShare was not the “next big thing” it has become. 😉
Now it’s much more difficult to be “heard”. 😉
My thinking is that it’s worth putting a stake in the ground with a couple of posts, but who knows what the long term value will be? There are so many places to publish content that it’s hard to keep up.
Amen, Sharon. By the way, the notification of your post finally came through. 😉
Any thoughts on their sort-of attempt to fix the auto-subscription problem? As of now it looks like they still force auto-subscriptions (which might not be legal with Canada’s new anti-spam law that affects social media accounts too, or so say a few knowledgeable Canadian colleagues at least). But they’re letting you manually unsubscribe. From each subscription. No account-wide setting letting us turn it off yet. Have you heard any rumblings that it might be heading that way?
As far as I know, Jenn, there is no way to change this yet. And if LinkedIn is working on it, I haven’t heard about it. See this discussion thread.
http://community.linkedin.com/questions/200539/how-do-i-turn-off-contact-post-notifications.html
Here’s the announcement with more details (though they aren’t entirely clear on whether you can unsubscribe from a connection’s “blog” entirely or if you unsubscribe from updates to a specific post).
https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140702134035-31946332-breaking-news-unsubscribe-from-posts-now-an-option
Missed that one. Thanks for sharing, Jenn.