Posts Tagged ‘Facelift’

LinkedIn’s Friday Dressing

Wednesday, August 1st, 2012

f4269_linkedin-logo1-580x385With the big giants like Facebook and Twitter having already received a facelift in the last one year or so, could LinkedIn be left far behind? The world’s leading social networking forum for professionals has recently undergone a cosmetic facelift and it looks quite promising. Let’s take a look at how impressive these changes are.

Lasting Impression:

The first impression is that LinkedIn has definitely geared up to become more engaging. The user interface has seen some dramatic changes while retaining many features almost as it is. The most visible change is doing away with the additional white space that the previous layout had.

Additionally, LinkedIn has introduced a clear demarcation of the various elements of the page into sections for comfortable viewing and ease of access. A dash of blue, black and grey has been added to the menu bar at the top to give the home page a more dynamic look. This menu bar though floats around at the top of the page regardless of wherever one navigates to within the page. This makes navigation simpler and holds the attention of the people on the page longer.

Linkedin

Also, in order to keep the platform dynamism quotient high, the new layout gives the user more updated information through his/her networks with the introduction of a small blue box at the top that keeps a score of updates in the real time; and they don’t stop at that.

Few of the sections to the right wing of the page give out clear numbers and statistics to an individual’s networking circle. The ‘who’s viewed your profile’ is the cue to discovering potential connections based on interest and an option to connect or message them is present, based on the degree of connection one has with that user.

Getting Personal:

The most radical feature that now greets us as we land on to our page is the introduction of LinkedIn Today panel that acts as a storyboard for all the information or news feed that one would require. What this means is, there is more customized flow of information on the news feed that is virtually impossible to miss out. Add to that, the improved graphics and bigger images that utilizes the space with a photograph to supplement each story. What’s more? Just like Twitter, this feature enables user to be in tandem with the hottest trending topics in their professional network with suggestions to follow industries and customize news. We say, it’s a winning move indeed. Although we must add that the photographs of users in the feed could have used some better placement as the left edge has no margin space, which makes it appear to end abruptly on one side.

Linkedin Today

Linkedin’s Caroline Gaffney had to say this about the move behind these changes – “We’ve revamped the entire homepage experience with a new look and feel to make it easier to scan and find the information that matters most to you”.

So long, Twitter:

In extension of the same, another key feature that many experts feel will be instrumental in determining the course of LinkedIn is the much talked about fallout with Twitter. Previously, a lot of content that used to surface on LinkedIn was directed through Twitter and not all of them were relevant to the professional network. Twitter now has limited its API to prevent tweets from automatically posting to LinkedIn’s social network, which means the amount of effort and time that goes into sharing information across platform will go up. Such a move can be viewed with a double lens. It can either mean that people will get to LinkedIn and post content which would mean more relevant and platform centric posts. Or it could see a drop in engagement as not many would like to take this much of effort. The jury is still out on that.

What is your initial reaction to the changed layout of LinkedIn? Is it a better shift than what Facebook and Twitter underwent? Share with us your feedback in the comments section below. We are always happy to hear from you.

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Posted in Brand Promotion, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | 3 Comments »

Twitter takes a tweak

Monday, December 19th, 2011

twitter tweaks2011 has been a remarkable year for many startups and stalwarts in the arena of Social Media. For most part, the socially active would remember this year as the year of major changes being rolled out by most social networking sites.

Even the most popular micro blogging site, Twitter, underwent a major UI changes. The ‘New Twitter’ was launched amidst much talked about anticipations and apprehensions. Here is a look at how the tweaks make Twitter grow.

Navigation Keys

At the top panel of the newly refurbished Twitter, users have 4 easy to navigate keys which are essentially the Home, Connect, Discover and Me keys. Besides, there is also a Tweet icon that is omnipresent so that one can tweet no matter where they are on the page.

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Home

This is essentially where one views tweets from the people they are essentially following including their retweets. With the new twitter, photos, videos and conversations are embedded directly in tweets so that one can see the whole story at a glance.

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Image courtesy: www.fly.twitter.com

Connect

An easy conversation ready reckoner where one can initiate or continue conversations, see their RT’s, favourites, followers(these 3 clubbed under Interactions) and mentions.

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Image courtesy: www.fly.twitter.com

Discover

By far the most significant and distinct feature highlighted in the new twitter, discover aims to stream customized content and in most cases they are different for each user (Stories). Along with this, it has integrated the last rolled out Activity tab where one can keep a track on their followers, find friends from various mail portals, browse categories(according to the interest areas).

The Stories are visually presented with much revelry, aesthetically speaking. They highlight the name of the topic on the masthead where tweets regarding them can be viewed by a single click and are supplemented with a recent article on the same beneath.

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All about Me

The last of the tabs is a personal dashboard to the lists one has subscribed to/is a member of and an all new window to the Direct Messages which now appears in a separate window. The layout of the DM window is a lot more user friendly and packed. Clicking upon each interaction opens up a chat like window within the existing window with the latest messages exchanged appearing last.

The most prominent feature in the Me being the display and layout of the page that offers one to showcase to the world their identity. With an enlarged masthead where the profile picture is big enough to create a statement with enough space to key in an individual’s story. Not to leave out space to provide a link to one’s website.

This however, is one of the key benefits that Twitter Brand Pages would have in customizing there page layout.

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Image courtesy: www.fly.twitter.com

Also, when one gets’ to Browse categories, this is where the major development comes into foray. This is where most Brands would be interested and looking forward to. This is one stop shop for any brand or person with a public profile that are clubbed together in broad categories in order of their relevance. For e.g.: Sports, Music, Technology, Books, television etc.

Branded Tweets

Interface facelift and the potent mobile platform

Now that twitter has revamped its web interface with additional features, brands and users can exploit it like never before. Earlier high-powered twitter users made use of 3rd party tools like hootsuite, TweetDeck etc. which enabled them to manage their twitter presence because of elaborate and feature enriched interfaces. With the advent of the new twitter this trend is likely to get more users get hooked on to the web interface. The simultaneous launch of mobile apps also shows that Twitter is gearing up for the future.

Preemptive content curating

For brands, to build engagement it’s essential that they do a preemptive study on the nature of their followers. By knowing how their followers function could really work wonders. This way, the brands can think ahead of their followers and develop content that would have definitive response to.

The Activity tab has the Discover element under it. This lets the users and brand pages find out relevant content material that is in sync with their followers interests. This can subsequently be incorporated in their further dissemination of information/tweets.

The Brand Pages & Advertising

Twitter’s brand pages that were much anticipated has come with power packed features and is definitely a boost in the arm to woo major brands into the twitter ecosystem especially by integrating richer content and using paid advertising through its in-house developed advertising tool.

Last but not the least, as previously mentioned, brands could now use the page layout in doling out information about them in a much enhanced fashion. For e.g.: The mast head on top of the brand page has a huge space for bio and relevant/connected websites and makes for a promising stand out statement.

Also, the backgrounds could include more elements from the brand portfolio that defines it’s core fabric.

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The final tweet

Although it is still dicey as to how twitter would go about this, the content diggers on twitter will definitely discover twitter as a great reserve. As time rolls by and the brand pages gain prominence in the brandscape, the new twitter will definitely prove its mettle as far as effectively reaching out to consumers is concerned.

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Posted in Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | 1 Comment »