It's one thing to add features that aid users, and quite another for companies to add features that don't add any value, and can be found just about everywhere else. That's why the latest addition to the LinkedIn start page is baffling.Some time over the last weeks or so, LinkedIn determined that a great addition to the front page would be the integration of news feeds via Google News about my company.
Yet for some reason, despite the fact I can get company news from a myriad of other sources: Yahoo! News, Google News, RSS feeds and focused media, LinkedIn has forgotten just why we use the site in the first place - for business networking, not for news collection...LinkedIn is never going to be my start page when I open my browser, and that extremely valuable front page real estate is absolutely wasted with the addition of company news. (See the right graphic for a blurred version)
In the face of potential competition from Facebook, LinkedIn may be feeling the pressure to continue to innovate, but I think this is absolutely the wrong direction. Leave the news and sports feeds to the portal sites, and stick to what you do best.
If you've really got a ton of engineering time out there to be utilized, please start here:
February 2007: How to Make LinkedIn Even Better
March 2007: 10 More Suggestions for LinkedIn
UPDATE: It'd be hard to say LinkedIn doesn't listen. This morning, when I checked the site, the news feed was missing, and I haven't heard anybody say that it's still there on their site (and not just removed for me). I don't know if it's a permanent removal, temporary, or just shown to a percentage of visitors, but if it has been yanked, that's very impressive speed. I can confirm multiple visitors from LinkedIn's homebase have read my note.