Introducing new tools to discover & share insights & expertise, accessibility & more + inspiring conversations about Dyslexic-Thinking and creativity

Every couple of weeks, I share with the team at LinkedIn new products and experiments that seem to be working — or not!— so that we can all learn from each other. I’m publishing these here, too, (with anything confidential x’ed out or removed) to give you some ideas for what we’re building, why we’re building it, and how we operate; I’d love your feedback on everything! – Tomer 

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Hey team,

The past several weeks have been very busy, and I hope you were able to enjoy some of the recent holidays around the world. Last week we celebrated our 19th LinkedIn anniversary (see the post from Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn’s cofounder) and it’s been inspiring to see the continuous record levels of member and community engagement as we connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful. On our anniversary, we also shared our journey to enhance our own Culture and Values (see the post from our CEO Ryan Roslansky) which received tremendous support from employees and members alike. 

In addition, we recently launched our 6th-annual Top Companies list in 35 countries and 12 different languages (17 new markets). It’s been especially meaningful to see how our members around the world find value in these lists. In Japan, members appreciated the usefulness of the data insights. In Argentina, they were excited to see all the job openings across the companies listed. And in Singapore, members called attention to the different ways these companies are retaining their talent. 

Before we go into our product updates, I want to call out the launch of Dyslexic Thinking as a new standardized skill that LinkedIn members can now add to their profiles. This builds on our ongoing investment in inclusion and accessibility. You can read more about the power of Dyslexic Thinking here, as well as, in Richard Branson’s newsletter.

And now, on to our product updates…

1. Searching for the best knowledge across LinkedIn  

Every minute incredible conversations are taking place on LinkedIn. Millions of professionals around the world come together to share & exchange ideas in pursuit of their professional goals & aspirations. From discussing macroeconomic trends to career conversations, experts and like-minded professionals across all industries and geographies come to share their unique experiences and insights.

To help members find the most valuable conversations, we have been investing heavily in content search and discovery. Now, when you search for news, topics, or trends you’ll see posts from people you’re connected with or following, as well as, relevant creators on LinkedIn. If you’re interested in a particular topic (such as web3 or Elon Musk Twitter deal) when you search for it you’ll see the latest insights, expert opinions, and other breaking news. From finding the right people, communities, companies, jobs, or content, you can now make progress on any professional goal by simply searching for the topic you have in mind.

We also hear from members that they want to re-discover posts they’ve seen, and we made it much easier. If you’re looking for something that you’ve seen before on Feed, you can now search with the creator’s name and keywords in their post. 

2. Enhancing Audio Events with real-time captions

We just launched real-time captions to the LinkedIn audio events experience, and it is a big deal. Up until now, when members joined an audio event on LinkedIn, they could only listen to it. While it might sound straightforward, it isn’t. By adding real-time captions, we are making audio events more accessible and inclusive for members with hearing impairments. Captions (currently available in English) are an incredibly important way to ensure every LinkedIn member is able to join audio events. We've been testing this internally for a few months and we're excited to launch this with our beta participants.

Beyond assisting members with hearing impairments, captions have many other accessibility benefits, such as allowing members to “listen” in places where playing audio is otherwise not possible or allowed (e.g. a library) and better facilitating understanding of the content. 

To enable captions when you join an Audio Event, click on the three dots in the top right-hand corner of the Audio Event and tap on Turn on captions (Beta). Members have the ability to turn captions on or off.

Here are some of the upcoming events, if you haven’t yet had the opportunity to join a live event:

• May 11, 8.00 a.m. PT How’s it Growing
• May 12, 9.30 a.m. PT This Week in Web3
• May 13, 9.00 a.m. PT What is the 'S' in ESG... and How Does it Align with DEI?

3. Learn new skills in real-time conversations with experts

Live events have also been a great way for members to learn in real-time with our LinkedIn Learning instructors and other experts. In the last year, our instructors have hosted more than 600 events on a range of topics, drawing over 500,000 attendees. 

Next week, we’re kicking off a four-week interactive series of real-time conversations to help our members build the kinds of skills that can help them advance their careers. Every Wednesday from May 18 to June 8, learners will be able to ask questions, share experiences, and join conversations with incredible instructors on topics like Making better decisions with Dan Ariely or Reinventing yourself with Debbie Milman. 

And as always, we’re continuing to invest in great new courses from some of the best experts in the world to keep you informed on the latest trends and help you navigate some of the changing dynamics, such as supply chain disruptions or what you need to know about Web3. Some recent examples include:

• Digital Transformation in Supply Chains
• Supply Chain Cybersecurity: Preventing Supply Chain Attacks
• What Business Leaders Need to Know about Web3 (+ Metaverse)

4. Service providers can now share their reviews to reap the benefits of word-of-mouth

LinkedIn is now home to approximately 4 million service providers worldwide who come daily to showcase their knowledge, build their business, and connect with their customers. We are continuously investing in helping better connect service providers and potential clients. Since March 2020, we’ve seen 3.5x growth in people searching & requesting services on LinkedIn, especially in categories such as business and executive coaching, marketing, design, and software development.

To help service providers attract new clients, we recently launched the ability for service providers to share their reviews with their community. We know that word of mouth is how many providers find new clients and grow their business. It is also critical for clients to help validate which service provider is best for them. By sharing reviews in their feed, service providers can multiply the impact of a single review and leverage the benefits of word-of-mouth recommendations across their community. Since we launched it, we’ve seen that members find those reviews very relevant and engaging in their feeds. In addition, service providers can showcase examples of their work through our new the Featured section on their page.

5. Personalize your creator profile with unique referral links 

We often hear from creators that increasing visibility for their business, event, or portfolio is a key priority. With creator mode, members can now add a link to the top of their profile so that audiences can learn more about them and their brand in a personalized way. It’s been great to see the early excitement from our creators. For example, check out this post from Dr. Addyson-Zhang, who is using the profile link to highlight her course. 

Note that this feature is currently only available if you have creator mode turned on, and will be rolled out more broadly soon.  

Every day I’m amazed by the heart of the LinkedIn community and the incredible sense of purpose, passion, generosity, and humor that is showcased through conversations across the platform. I love seeing all the unique and inspiring posts－and I’m excited to share some of my favorites with you.  

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LinkedIn’s newly added “Dyslexic Thinking” skill was a special moment for Katie Anderson. She shares how dyslexia has benefited her throughout her life and career and celebrates the impact it's had. 

Applauding LinkedIn’s new Career Break feature, Brighid Scanlon shares her personal story of taking a year off of work to backpack over 1,000 miles in New Zealand, “hiking through rigorous terrain and living outdoors for over 3 months,” and how valuable highlighting that experience is.

Anthony Vitagilano shares his design expertise and details how he got a single keyframe of animation set while making the title and graphic cards for the new Watergate series "Gaslit" on Starz. 

Russ Finklestein, a coaching expert, shares how the best mentors are not “trophy hunters” but rather “community gardeners.” 

After hiding her autism for a long time, Hannah Cook shared her personal story on LinkedIn and received heartwarming support related to the importance of neurodiversity representation in the workplace.

 With deep gratitude,

Tomer