The audio networking feature will be connected with user’s professional identity unlike its rival Clubhouse which is basically a social product. The Microsoft owned company has already built a platform that serves community which enables access to tools like Stories, Linked In Live Video broadcasting, newsletters among others. The company says they have developed the audio-based networking feature following demands from its members and creators for more ways to communicate on its platform. According to Suzi Owens, a spokesperson for LinkedIn, when confirming its audio feature development to Techcruch, said that they are seeing nearly 50% growth in conversations on Linked In reflected on stories, video shares and posts on the platform. She added that they are doing some early tests to create a unique audio experience connected to a user’s professional identity and that they are looking at how they can bring audio to other parts of Linkedin such as events and groups ,to give their members even more ways to connect with their community. The feature comes with a stage showcasing the rooms speakers and a set of listeners below. There is also a tool to join and leave the room, react to comments and request to speak. The audio feature will be linked with users’ professional identities thus the company is confident that users will be comfortable to speak, comment and engage with the content. Its present moderation tools built for other features for instance LinkedIn live will help address issues concerning inappropriate or harmful discussions. For the company, there priority is to build a trusted community where people feel safe and can be productive. That members come to LinkedIn to have respectful and constructive conversations with real people and the company is focused on ensuring they have a safe environment to do that. The company shared a screen short of the upcoming feature to Techcrunch portraying what the audio room may look like, one can see four main speakers highlighted as well as their professional designation and the listeners appear at the bottom part. The audio networking feature will enable an extension to other areas such as Groups and Events, areas for networking that have been growing and especial during the pandemic. Techcruch has revealed that 21 Million users attended events on Linkedin in 2020 and their overall sessions increased by 30% year over year and the company’s 740 million users built a community, had conversations and shared knowledge and 4.8 billion connections were done. The professional platform has also released creator mode which is designed to feature the work of content creators. With this feature users can add hash tags to indicate content they mostly post about. Activating the creator mode will enable a users featured and activity sections get to the top of their profile.
