Is LinkedIn about to become even more like Facebook?

Facebook and LinkedIn go head to head

As Facebook prepares to try its hand in the arena of professional networking and workplace collaboration with the upcoming launch of Facebook at Work, LinkedIn has responded by adapting to become more like Facebook. While LinkedIn has not explicitly commented on Facebook’s plans, its new page layout is very likely an attempt to ensure that their site won’t be outcompeted by Facebook at Work’s great potential to encourage business networking.

LinkedIn is already a well-established site for professional networking and for connecting hiring companies to potential employees. Its new interface is designed to encourage even more user-generated contented. Now when you visit your LinkedIn homepage, you will see that your network of professional connections is listed separately from the Dashboard of tasks, updates and relevant articles.

A “Keep in Touch” box shows updates from people in your network and allows you to instantly “like” or comment, much like Facebook. The Dashboard also lists statistics such as how many people have seen your profile or your recent update. The hope is that this feedback will motivate users to post more updates and generate more content.

Experts note that people spend more time on a site when there is more relevant content to click through. Keeping users on LinkedIn longer will in turn attract more hiring managers to post jobs on the site.

LinkedIn may become an even more powerful business tool

LinkedIn has already fully integrated with business news reader Pulse to provide LinkedIn users with relevant news articles specifically recommended for them. Recent changes to the site may make LinkedIn a powerful business tool, combining networking with business news.

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However, Facebook at Work may provide additional services to facilitate enterprise collaboration, such as online group discussions and file sharing. Businesses and their employees will soon be able to decide for themselves if they prefer to use LinkedIn, Facebook for Work, or a combination of both.