Week 12 Part B

Business Specific Tools

How to Make LinkedIn Feel More Social

  LinkedIn doesn't always feel like "social media". When most people think about social media they think about funny cat photos, memes they can share with friends, and pictures of food. It was developed to be easy and relaxing. Professional networking was often mentioned and recommended, but often fell short. LinkedIn tried to fill that gap by creating a platform just designed for professional networking, but seemed to miss the mark on the social side of the equation. Even LinkedIn groups became tools for professional networking, resume posts, and excessive advertising; but they don't have to be.

  LinkedIn groups have the real potential to change the feel of LinkedIn. Groups have a real chance to cater to specific social groups on LI allowing it to still fulfill its primary role, while also creating engaging conversations. One issue on LI is the variety of contacts. People on other social media sites curate their contacts and friends based on the content they want to see. People on LI curate their contacts based on the job they want to have. It can be lucrative, but isn't usually much fun; or very social. Groups have a chance for people on LI to choose content over structure and ambition, but why have they failed? 

  LI hasn't figured out how to moderate groups. Other social media sites moderate content based on their own ethical criteria, but most people moderate content themselves by following, unfollowing, liking, unliking, friending, and unfriending. LI groups are designed to present specific content to specific users in specific fields. LI groups should seem more like old forums and chat rooms from the late 90s and early 00s. The one thing anyone will remember from then is that those places only worked if the content was tightly focused and the moderators were on top of the content. Good chat rooms and forums often worked more like small magazines. Content would be posted, but it would all get sorted and reviewed. Inappropriate content would get scrubbed, great content would get boosted. LI has a real moderator problem in their groups. Groups are a free for all. Anyone can post anything at any time, as long as they don't violate corporate policy. Groups need individual content policy, guidelines and moderation.

  LI should create something more akin to a newspaper's "Letter to the Editor" section. Pre-curated, pre-approved content designed to guide the conversations. Responses could then be moderated based on pre-designed rules that would be specific to each group. Group moderators should have a method of pre-screening responses based on the group's rules, content algorithms, and past poster trends. Traditional social media is based on free-wheeling social encounters. I have Facebook friends I have never met, in countries I have never been to, with jobs I don't know because they create content I can engage with, or I think is funny. LI contacts are planned. I know almost every one personally. Any that I don't know personally, I know why I am linked to them and there is a specific strategy. LI is about strategy. Then they made groups and abandoned strategy for a social feel. It has failed. 

  In life, both social and professional, people learn to lean into what they are good at. It's not always what they planned on, and it's not always what they like. LI has a real chance to lean into what they are good at: planning. The average user on LI is there for a reason. They want to show off. They want to appear to have value. Old internet forum moderators had the same drive. Good moderators seemed put together and popular. Bad moderators faded away. LI groups could provide a resource for another level of networking. If they could create appropriate tools and rules, they could create a space where group moderators took on the role of Editor-in-Chief of their own content engine. LI users could use groups as a way of showing off content and organizational skills. Every school has a variety of publications and the ambitious use them as a way to showcase their skills. 

  The Yale Daily News has alumni that include: Joseph Lieberman, Steve Mnuchin, Samantha Power, Garry Trudeau, William F Buckley Jr, Michael Barbaro, Matthew Kaminski, and Theo Epstein. Most university publications have alumni lists that are among the most prestigious for their university. Like the Yale list, they then move on to excel in almost every field, not just journalism. Curating content for business people has real advantages. Content curators, content writers, and forum moderators are viewed as leaders, but they have to given the appropriate authority. LI needs to stop trying to just be social and create groups centered around ambition and the drive to show off skills. That is what their platform is all about; they should learn to do what they are good at.

Discord Groups is the New Platform for Directed Content

  Wikipedia created a place for social media to create information and to educate. Millions of people all over the world work together to create extensive and accurate information. Content creators and editors work around the clock to create a thorough and accurate archive of the knowledge of humanity. It's not very fun though. 

  Reddit seems to have a similar goal. A discussion board for everything under the sun. It's kind of like the wild west of information. You may find what you want, you may die of starvation for content. Every topic is available, but managing it is hard. Many people go to Reddit only to be overwhelmed by Internet trolls and inappropriate content.

  Discord groups is trying something new. Discord groups are an easy way to find curated content on a variety of subjects and create real conversations. I mean real conversations with real voices. Discord's communication tools allow nearly every kind of interpersonal communication. Discord allows text chat, group text chat, private text chat, voice communication, private voice communication and even public and private video communication within groups. Discord has really made a multi-media, interest group centered, moderated platform that caters to any interest.

  Discord started out as a place for various gamers to communicate, but seems to be evolving into something greater. As a Discord user and role-playing gamer I found Discord to play games with friends that have spread out across the US, and it was great. Then as a student I used Discord to engage in class chats far surpassing any school-based discussion board. Now I am finding new groups moving within and past my former groups to find new content popping up in every field.

  Discord groups thus far seem to be focused, interactive and well-moderated. It may not last, but I like the direction it is headed in.