August 23, 2013
Despite the rising popularity of such LinkedIn features as the company page, the influencers section and the newsfeed, LinkedIn groups are one of the most popular features of the platform. Search for any industry, and you will find top groups with their membership in tens and even hundreds of thousands.
However, since the introduction of the company page and LinkedIn Today, the groups have somewhat been neglected by the developers in terms of their design and functionality. Nevertheless, yesterday afternoon we noticed groups gaining a brand new look and feel, and functionality – see our own Social Speakeasy Club for instance:
Now the look and feel closely resembles LinkedIn pages, and is much easier to navigate. Here’s a couple of features that have been simplified:
- Easier switching between most popular and most recent discussions:
- Comments are visible underneath the discussions without the need to click on them:
- Group statistics are now hiding underneath an “i” sign on the top right corner:
- A separate URL field has been abandoned and links are attached automatically via the discussion box:
These are just a couple of long-awaited features that make the discussion participants’ user experience more enjoyable. The design feels cleaner, more professional, easier to read and more dynamic to engage.
In the official statement, LinkedIn also quote the following impressive figures:
- There are more than 2 million groups on LinkedIn
- LinkedIn groups generate 200 conversations each minute
- 8,000 LinkedIn groups are created each week
You may also like to read our previous blog post: 3 LinkedIn groups worth your attention
Are you a member of a LinkedIn group? What do you think of the new design? Leave a comment below!
Images courtesy of LinkedIn