Everything You Need to Know About the New LinkedIn 🔮

image credit: Aaron Fawzy (congrats on the LinkedIn [In]ternship!)

Old LinkedIn is Dead. ☠️

Gone are the days of checking in every few weeks.

We are witnessing the next great tectonic shift in the world of social media and to the surprise of many, it’s the new LinkedIn that’s leading the charge.

To most people, LinkedIn was their least-used network, where they would check in only to post their resumes or look for job candidates. It’s still that, but it is poised to become the place to be.

Finally! Appealing to a Younger Audience

Now at 500 million+ users and post-Microsoft’s $26 billion acquisition, the business graph-focused network is ready to become the front-runner in the hearts and minds of Millennials and Gen Z, who will cautiously enter for 2 main reasons:

1 — Practicality — Millennials / Gen Z want real jobs instead of their current unemployment / underemployment. We’ll see a huge demographic shift as they come in.

2 — Features — Native video and active status messaging are here, not to mention a redesigned desktop UI and mobile app.

This is a killer combination — a well rounded personal branding portrayal of the individual.

New LinkedIn Becomes Your New Facebook (without the noise)

Once you’re on LinkedIn for hours each day, instead of Facebook, you will consume content, share, and make your own content. Native (and eventually live) video will expand this.

LinkedIn is all business, and that’s unbelievably refreshing. It’s not a political cesspool like Facebook.

How You Can Get Ahead of the Game

Make sure you’re ready: adapt your profile to the new environment:

Step 1 — fix your profile header

Step 2 — fix your profile summary

Step 3 — how to post properly with emojis (yes, emojis) 😂

What Should You Share?

👉 LinkedIn native video

👉 Active status / messaging

👉 Long form posts through the LinkedIn publisher platform

👉 Personal storytelling via text based updates

Don’t Try to Game the System

As LinkedIn evolves, it’s inevitable that some people will try to abuse connections. People are already very sensitive to that. Avoid trying to peddle your services. Instead, let your profile speak for itself, and the value you bring to the conversation will lead people to reach out to you.

The only thing you should be actively selling is your credibility.

People to Watch (and Why)

1. Michaela Alexis

Style: Boldly unique

What to Expect: Going against the grain of the LinkedIn old guard, doing selfies and everything people thought was “wrong,” Michaela has gone from being fired to CEO in a year!

Michaela regularly puts out image rich content (coffee is usually involved) and just put out her first video.

2. Oleg Vishnepolsky

Style: Old-school text master

What to Expect: As the Global CTO for Daily Mail, Oleg has decades of inspirational business stories to share. He’s the master of the text-based post. So if you fancy yourself a writer, check out Oleg. Every day.

3. Josh Fechter

Style: Documenting the story

What to Expect: Josh runs a huge Facebook group (15k) and has been documenting his journey to the top. Josh isn’t afraid to mince words or tell the low points of his story. Watch for him to amp up his video game!

4. Brian Wallace (Yours truly)

This isn’t ego bait. I’m committed to putting out regular content in the form of text-based status updates, native video, and longer form posts on the publishing platform, such as the one you’re reading right now. 😂

What Does Viral Success Look Like on LinkedIn?

This.

I wrote this a week ago and it is still growing, with more than 845,000 views.

Things to Avoid

👉 Don’t tag 100 of your friends. You don’t do that anymore on FB, right?

👉 Don’t beg people to share.

👉 Don’t ask for comments.

👉 Don’t add spam comments.

Once your post starts gaining traction, engage your audience with meaningful and insightful commentary. Be ready to respond!

What’s Next for LinkedIn?

Live Video 🎬

This seems like an obvious next step.

Once this happens, expect some major social time funneled away from Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook Live, and Twitter’s Periscope.

My friend String Nguyen has a viral LinkedIn video and is mixing up some original content worth giving a look.

LinkedIn IRL Meetups 😱

Be on the lookout for Linkedin Meetups. Yes, in person!

Manu “Swish” Goswami has been leading the pack on this (and an amazing person to follow), already having successful meetups in NYC and China.

Here’s a look at his last NYC meetup.

💡 Anna McAfee has been doing meetups in Australia. Talk about a global community!

💡 Rob Humphrey has been rolling out LinkedIn day at college campuses. Helps like going to the guidance counselor 😂

How do you see the future of LinkedIn? Let me know in the comments!

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About the Author: Brian Wallace is the Founder of NowSourcing, the top rated infographic agency in the nation. Connect with him on LinkedIn, Twitter, and if you’re really into what he does, Book a time to chat.

(Special thanks to Jan Winter, Doc Sheldon, and Chuck Hester for contributing to this post. This post originally appeared on LinkedIn.)