Changes coming to LinkedIn in 2022

Earlier this month I sent an email to the students in my course outlining the changes coming to LinkedIn this year. They get to hear all things LinkedIn related first and now I want to share it with YOU! 

If you've been on the platform actively for the past two years you know there's been a lot of additions and a few subtractions. This is partly because social networks are always adapting and partly because Microsoft, who bought LinkedIn in 2016, wants to make make good on its investment.

 Since the pandemic began, LinkedIn introduced:

• The Featured carousel
• Name pronunciation
• Pronouns
• Polls
• Video chat
• Video Stories (and then removed them 😆)

There's more, those are just off the top of my head!

So, let's jump into what changes are coming this year.

Ch-ch-changes coming to LinkedIn 2022

Most of the changes we'll see will be on our profiles. With the uptake in users during the pandemic, LinkedIn will have a lot of insight to make these decisions. Additionally, some of these changes are LONG over due. It seemed like certain areas of our profiles were added without a lot of thought to how they impacted user experience and perceived importance, and now that's being fixed.

My favourite change will be to the recommendations section moving closer to the top. We all know the importance social proof plays in our decision making process as a consumer – think Yelp, Google reviews, website testimonials, etc. So, why was LinkedIn's version of this buried at the bottom of our profiles? 

✨TIP: Get out there and give people your recommendations, and ask for theirs. When this change comes to the masses everyone will be panicking to get recommendations. Get ahead and make the ask now.

The next change is to the About section (formerly called Summary). Right now only a few lines of text are seen without having to click "read more." Soon, we'll have the ability to show about 5 lines. 

More text means we're able to "hook" people into choosing to read more about us. I believe it's a nudge to people to write their About section because it's important! I think it's a perfect place to share your personal brand statement. More on what that is here. 

The Featured section gets bigger! I love the featured section. It adds colour, visuals and the ability to see examples of someone's work. Currently each feature is set up in a carousel frame and posts can be scrolled through horizontally. We can see two full images, plus a quarter of another. Soon, we'll see three full images. I think this speaks to the importance of this section and audiences' desires to engage with visual content.

I did a LinkedIn Live where I walked through these changes and shared when they'll come to our profiles and if we should wait for them to arrive before updating our profiles (spoiler: you should NOT wait). The Live was recorded and you can watch it here! 

Ready to improve your LinkedIn presence? My course, Opportunity Magnet, is for your if:

• you want a personal brand on the world's most trusted social network
• you want to be seen as an expert in your field
• you want to make it easy for people to find you and share professional and business opportunities with you.

Become and Opportunity Magnet today! 👩🏼‍🏫 See you inside the course!