In radical social media news, LinkedIn is adding a blocking feature to its site. LinkedIn is finally falling in line with other major social networks like Facebook and Twitter after significant pressure from users for a block button, including a petition with 8,500 signatures.
In radical social media news, LinkedIn is adding a blocking feature to its site. LinkedIn is finally falling in line with other major social networks like Facebook and Twitter after significant pressure from users for a block button, including a petition with 8,500 signatures.
Paul Rockwell, LinkedIn's Head of Trust and Safety, said "I can confirm that we're in the process of building the button in respond to ongoing demand. We've heard you, and we both recognise and appreciate the need for privacy controls in the digital age."
This is good news for users with any manner of privacy concerns. For the average user, this means anxiety about undesirable connections such as previous employers following your feed can easily be dealt with. Users will be able to block members they'd rather not interact with, like recruiters or competitors.
For those with more intense privacy concerns, such as those who are victims of harassment or stalking, this is a game-changing development which will allow them to be visible on the site without risking their safety. As it stands, victims of these sorts of crimes or disputes can do little to minimise the risk of attackers following their work and personal information other than deleting their profile or very strictly managing public visibility. Victims are forced to sacrifice networking moves for the sake of "somethething they are powerless against". A blocking feature will mean these people will no longer have to make a choice between business opportunities and their personal safety.
The potential for this to change the way users interact with LinkedIn is huge. When the blocking feature becomes available, the ability to view nearly any profile will no longer be a given. LinkedIn getting serious about privacy means the free pass lurkers have been enjoying for so long will suddenly be revoked, making the site less informative in certain ways, but certainly safer to use.
The social media team at National Technologies Group is taking note. Social media changes so rapidly that strategies must always take into account new developments and features. We'll be updating the social media strategies we use at NTG to work with and around these updates for LinkedIn.
If you can't keep up with the unrelenting changes in the social media landscape, contact us, or drop us a tweet. We follow this stuff so you don't have to.
