LinkedIn Makes Changes

LinkedIn makes changes once again that could have some impact on the Art Marketing Group

I know that this kind of post is not the norm for me as I mainly write about the arts and decorative painting and murals, but I thought it would be important for my members to know of the Art Marketing Group that I manage on LinkedIn.

Rumor has it that there will be some important updates and changes to LinkedIn Groups coming next week that I think you all might not be aware of. Some are good and some are not so good, in my opinion, and I would like to get a little feedback to see how you all feel about them.

LinkedIn member

has taken the time to break the down the changes to a more understanding way to look at them (or at least it has for me) as I am more of an artist and need to read things in a simpler format.

So I thought I would send you all a copy printed in quotes to make sure she received the credit for the work.

So Please Don’t Shoot The Messenger,

There are now more than 2 million groups on LinkedIn, but the quality just isn’t there, as most group owners would agree.

Thus, LinkedIn Groups has been reimagined from the ground up and a standalone iOS app launched in an effort to make LinkedIn Groups valuable once again for the more than 380 million registered users.

Here’s the Skinny on the changes to Groups features:

♨ Standard and Unlisted Groups

– Now, all groups are either Standard or Unlisted.
– Unlisted Groups don’t show up in search results and only the group’s owner and manager can invite members to the group.
– Standard Groups do show up in search results and any member can invite any of their 1st degree connections to join.
– If your group currently has public conversations or is free to join, it’ll become a Standard Group.

♨ All Groups Are Now Private Groups

– Conversations in groups won’t be visible until you’ve joined the group.

♨ All Groups Are Now Members-Only Groups

– Joining a LinkedIn group now requires either an invitation or approval of your request.

♨ Content Moderation

– To ensure groups are effective as timely conversation forums, conversations will now be posted instantly to a group without the need for manager approval.
– Group owners, managers, and moderators can still remove off-topic conversations and place members in moderation.
– Other group members can also flag inappropriate comments and conversations after they’ve been posted.

♨ Removal of Promotions Tab

Any new promotional posts will go to the moderation queue for the owners, managers, and moderators to approve.

♨ Removal of Subgroups

– If you’re the owner of a parent group with subgroups, you may wish to rename your subgroups. Try including links to these subgroups in the About page of the parent group to maintain the hierarchical structure.
– The About page is populated from the Group Information page, found under the Manage tab. You can enter your related groups in the Description section on the Group Information page.

♨ LinkedIn Groups iOS Mobile App

You can follow conversations on the go with the new Groups mobile app for iOS. You can receive push notifications for conversations in your groups so you stay updated on what’s happening in your community.

Note: The mobile app is currently only available on iOS, but an Android version will also be available soon.

♨ Posting Images in Conversations

You can now make conversations as engaging as possible by posting images to any new conversations.

When you start a conversation, you can click the Image icon in the lower left corner of the conversation window to upload your image.

Note: Currently, you can’t post images in comment replies to a conversation.

♨ Member Approval in Standard Groups

When a member requests to join a Standard Group, their connections in the group can approve the request. Group owners and managers can also approve any request to join.

♨ Mentions in Group Conversations

You can now reference other group members and bring them into a conversation by typing “@” followed by the group member’s name.

♨ Groups Highlights and Email Digests

You’ll now get a digest of the most popular and recent conversations to cut down on emails from your groups and help you follow the most interesting conversations.

You’ll also find your personal Highlights page within LinkedIn Groups. Highlights are a snapshot of the most important conversations happening from all the groups you’ve joined.

Original Author of this post LinkedIn member