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Posts Tagged ‘linkedin groups’

LinkedIn Groups: Glitches Get Fixed – Sort Of

September 29th, 2010 by Erin Posted in LinkedIn | Comments Off

It’s no secret that LinkedIn revamped its Groups section over the summer. Among some of the changes LinkedIn rolled out include:

- An ability to track contributions to a story or discussion.

- A revolving carousel of stories which gives users a new way to browse and participate in the most popular discussions.

- A new box that highlights the “top influencers” of a group, which is based who contributes to discussions.

- A “like” or “pass” button.

Based on these features, it may seem that LinkedIn Groups is now more of a popularity contest than a place to share and exchange. But people are digging the whole social network vibe. They really, really are.

LinkedIn says its new interface has already significantly increased member participation – a number they measure by user comments and visits to Groups. LinkedIn says it was also listening this summer to several complaints about how the new features effect users’ abilities to moderate – or lack thereof. So, now, in true LinkedIn style – the site has presented its first set of improvements. And while, they won’t fix some of the other common complaints – such as speed – they do make life easier for moderators. Here are the highlights.

1. Delete threads directly. Moderators can fight spam by simply deleting inappropriate content from the “More” tap on any groups’ thread.

2. New email notifications. Sure, email notifications are not new, but now group managers can get email alerts for every new post and DELETE SPAM and INAPPROPRIATE POSTS straight from those emails!

3. Find other users to help moderate. Group managers don’t have to take on the work of moderating the group alone. They can now deputize trusted members to help moderate.

4. Encourage others to flag inappropriate content. All users can help weed out spam and inappropriate content by flagging. All posts and comments flagged as inappropriate are then added to the group managers’ new moderation queue. In one swift move, they can delete or clear flags from posts as well as blacklist spammers with the powerful “remove member, block & delete contributions” button.

While the new LinkedIn Groups may look like a three-ring circus compared to the old version, it has improved the quality of conversations and it works very much like a social network. But, LinkedIn says this is just the first in a series of improvements. Perhaps the best is yet to come…

 Tags: changes LinkedIn, common complaints, glitches, improvements, inappropriate posts, linkedin groups, new features, new interface

LinkedIn for BlackBerry is Missing Something

April 7th, 2010 by Erin Posted in LinkedIn | No Comments »

Apple iPhone’s red-headed stepchild, BlackBerry, is sportin’ a new application.

LinkedIn for BlackBerry is out and it’s loaded with all sorts of modules and integration features – BUT it’s missing something, something very important.

First, the good.

BlackBerry users have been waiting anxiously for this LinkedIn app for quite some time and when it was unveiled, the big “Ta-Da” generated a lot of buzz  from bloggers on Twitter.

“It’s here, it’s here!”… some of them wrote. But after really examining the app, their bubble burst. Alas LinkedIn for BlackBerry is not as feature-rich as LinkedIn for iPhone. (And why would it? BlackBerry apps are never as good as the iPhone’s.)

The app is divided into six key modules: Network Updates, Search, Connections, Invitations, Messages and Reconnect – all of which are pretty self-explanatory.

In addition to the six modules, LinkedIn has also gone ahead and integrated the app with three of BlackBerry’s native apps: Contacts, Messages and Calendar.

1. Contacts: Take your LinkedIn connections and drop them directly into your BlackBerry contacts. This gives you quick access to the LinkedIn profiles of your business associates.

2. Messages: LinkedIn messages appear directly in your BlackBerry Inbox as if they were e-mails.

3. Calendar: If an attendee of an event on your calendar has a LinkedIn profile, you can quickly pull it up.

That, by far, is probably the coolest feature and the app’s greatest strength.

Now, here’s the downside and it’s a BIG downside.

The application is missing a module that allows users to interact with LinkedIn Groups.

To me, Groups is one of the most important components of LinkedIn. It’s where users interact, engage each other, and establish new connections. It’s where I spend most of my time. I don’t spend time browsing my connections. And, I certainly don’t read the network updates. They’re all spill-overs from Twitter anyway.

The other hitch with this new LinkedIn for BlackBerry application is its software and hardware limitations. You’re going to need a BlackBerry Tour, Curve or Bold with BlackBerry OS v4.3 or later in order to really operate it.

Yes, I’m disappointed about this app. I had high hopes for it too. But, as it stands, it’s just taking up precious space on my BlackBerry.

Delete app!

 Tags: blackberry application, linkedin application, linkedin for blackberry, linkedin groups

LinkedIn Groups Become A Little More Useful

April 23rd, 2009 by Erin Posted in LinkedIn | No Comments »

In case you haven’t noticed – LinkedIn Groups just got a makeover. 

And we like it.

Up until last month, managing Groups on LinkedIn didn’t require a whole lot of effort; nor did the feature serve a real purpose.

But after listening to bitter complaints from LinkedIn faithful – the site finally made some dynamic changes to its Groups section.

Now, admins can email group members directly for the sake of sharing announcements and creating discussion threads in which members can comment on automatically.

Furthermore, LinkedIn Group managers can now create a custom news stream they consider relevant for the group by enabling support for importing custom RSS and Atom feeds. Managers can also control whether to enable job discussion capabilities within their group, a feature that allows members to discuss job opportunities without cluttering the main conversation.

It’s good to see LinkedIn taking more cues from our social networking friends, like Facebook.

It’s also nice to see LinkedIn going the distance for its users – even if they are a bit slow on the uptake.

 Tags: linkedin groups, linkedin job discussion, managing linkedin groups