When someone throws $26.2 billion in cash on the table, you don’t think to just walk away. Neither did LinkedIn in its most recent acquisition from Microsoft. While many analysts have opened up on how this will grow LinkedIn’s business and solidify its future as the Facebook for enterprise social networking, few are talking about what this will do to the social media giant’s users. Since it’s our social media month, let’s do our own review of what this could be.
To recap what happened, Microsoft bought out LinkedIn last June for that aw-inspiring amount of money. According to TechCrunch, the deal is good for both sides; Microsoft will gain the missing piece to its strategy of offering more services for enterprises and LinkedIn’s future will come out of a dark tunnel of uncertainty as it struggles to grow.
To be clear, LinkedIn users aren’t currently expected to see many changes to their profiles or relationships. However, if you use Microsoft technologies, you can expect more integrated services, Computer World reported.
One of the most fascinating ways this will change the way we experience the site is the implementation of Cortana, Microsoft’s virtual personal assistant. The Verge wrote Cortana’s integration into LinkedIn would make it easier for you to get the context you need about professionals you’re meeting. For your next interview, you could ask Cortana to get you all the professional details you’ll need to know about the person about to be sitting on the other side of the table from you.
Microsoft’s Office 365 and Dynamics software suites are some of the most widely used services across businesses and personal. As Computer World wrote, LinkedIn’s newsfeed combined with your Office account can soon begin to recognize the type of projects you’re working on and begin to make the recommendations on experts you should be talking with.
Like most people in the workforce, I have a LinkedIn account. Granted, I don’t look at it nearly as much as Facebook, but it’s been great for finding me relevant jobs. In fact, the last three jobs I’ve had began with LinkedIn connections and this blog started with a LinkedIn message. If this comes with a more intelligent system for allowing recruiters to find me and me to find more great jobs, then I’m all for the combination of a technology enterprise business with a social media backing.
What would you like to see come out of this acquisition?