LinkedIn just announced an exciting experiment with artificial intelligence. Following the rise in popularity of AI platforms like ChatGPT , this doesn’t come to much of a surprise.
This month, LinkedIn revealed its new feature called Collaborative Articles which will use AI-generated conversation starters to encourage contributions from thought leaders. The social media app plans to expand access in the coming months, but right now it’s only available to early access users.
Let’s take a look at how this works and why it could be impactful for professionals AND brand accounts.
While scrolling through your LinkedIn newsfeed, you may notice an article with a button that says “Help unlock community knowledge with us” as an invitation to add your thoughts to a conversation.
The prompts are where artificial intelligence comes into play. The technology writes the initial thread, and the LinkedIn editorial team comes in afterwards to refine and take a final pass through the pieces before people begin contributing. We love a good moment where tech and people unite!
So, how is LinkedIn choosing who gets picked to contribute? LinkedIn’s Skills Graph is what matches articles with relevant topic experts.
Users can also judge the experts’ contributions using an “insightful” reaction if they found it helpful.
Here’s an example of what it looks like in action. Pretty cool, right?
This update clearly benefits LinkedIn users by unlocking collective knowledge for more well-rounded viewpoints. But it could be extremely useful for thought leaders on the platform.
LinkedIn’s Editor in Chief VP, Daniel Ross explains in his article , “Because starting a conversation is harder than joining one, these collaborative articles make it easier for professionals to come together and add and improve ideas.”
It could also help members gain more exposure for their expertise and add more connections to their network. Not to mention, having a shiny badge provides thought leaders with greater authority in their industry (authority = SEO brownie points).
As an added incentive for users, members who contribute to these pieces can receive a Community Top Voice badge on their profile page that will be valid for 60 days at a time, as long as they continue contributing to Collaborative Articles.
In a time where the majority of a brand’s engagement actually comes from their employees, it’s important for companies to highlight and leverage their thought leaders on social media.
One of my favorite statistics that highlights this comes from LinkedIn’s marketing blog , “While only 3% of employees share content about their company, those shares are responsible for driving a 30% increase in the total engagement a company sees.”
Collaborative Articles help employees demonstrate their expertise, which in turn can be a win-win for companies who use their thought leaders to share content.
While it isn’t the first time LinkedIn is testing out new features with AI, we predict there will be more to come this year, especially considering that the app’s parent company, Microsoft, is investing billions into OpenAI.
In a time where LinkedIn is seeing ‘record levels’ of in-app engagement among over 900 million members, it’s an important platform that shouldn’t be overlooked for professionals or organizations. By leveraging these new features, you can stay ahead of the curve and rise above your competition (see this blog post for strategies to keep tabs on your competitors).
Are you looking forward to more AI-based tools in social media? Share your thoughts in the comments!