"Murdered" by Microsoft
Microsoft a company that has changed our world is a giant with a self "killing" instinct. While the company has done some amazing things with in-built products such as the HoloLens and the amazing Surface line, in other aspects it has actually killed almost anything it has acquired.
Let's take a few examples of Murdered by Microsoft companies:
- Yammer, remember this, it is now nowhere to be found!
- Skype, well it is almost dead. For some reason MS keeps delivering less of a product that is more and more messed up with every update, aliennating it's user base. I keep getting updates that my contacts are not very active. Guess what, they stopped using it.
- Who is next?
Next is LinkedIn. Yes the very network that I am writing this article on. I have been on the platform for the last six or seven years. MS has now is moving at an advanced pace to "murder" LinkedIn. Let's examine proof of the murder:
a) User activity on the network is significantly down. When @Jon Steinberg, CEO of Cheddar with 1.4 million followers only gets 14000 views and 323 likes on his posts something is terribly off.
b) Groups which were vital to the success of the network have degenerated to having no one visit or comment on them. Features that used to encourage engagement have slowly been removed.
c) My brief overview suggests that daily news digest readers are about down by 60%.
d) The content is degenarating into a "feed" vs. a professional discussion
e) InMail is not working, not even on LinkedIn staff!
I don't think that the LinkedIn "murder" is intentional but the corporate culture and business processes within Microsoft stiffles practically any company that it acquires. I attempted to InMail their product development chief, and a few more people at LinkedIn, offered to help, and have received no reply.
I guess they know everything!
Honestly, I want MS to do well with LinkedIn but I see no light at the end of the tunnel, not at-least with this mindset!
With this pace, I am anticipating that "LinkedIn" has about two more years to go. We are all awaiting for the next credible replacement before we jump ship.
Do you think Microsoft has taken LinkedIn in the right direction?
What about WhatsApp?
Principal Tunnel Engineer | HATCH Associate
6yMicrosoft! He’s right. Are you listening?
Structural and Foundation Engineer/Consultant | Below-Ground & Urban Construction Specialist
6yI agree that MS has done considerable damage to LinkedIn. My experience has been consistent with yours. However, I will note that the feed has been getting less bad in the past few months. Also, I suspect that LinkedIn's analytics being total broken may make the problem look worse than it is. For example, I have noticed impressions and engagements for content shared from my business page no longer seems to count in the post's analytics. When I share my business content, the share often gets more views that the original post. Referral traffic from LinkedIn to my website shows the same. Useless data seems to be standard operating procedure for social medial companies and MS is seems to be trying to mimic Facebook and Twitter.