In the past month, two fascinating news items were published about LinkedIn. First, a group of Israelis that had sued LinkedIn in 2014 regarding the Israeli spam law reached a compromise in which LinkedIn will pay them the unprecedented amount of NIS 3.5 million, despite the fact that LinkedIn has changed its privacy policy since then. The second piece of news is that LinkedIn is launching a feature that allows users to schedule posts.
The timing of the first item is wonderful. LinkedIn is currently establishing its first development center in Israel, and this is the “reception” it has received. LinkedIn is learning the hard way about the Israeli mentality. It is better to discover it now, with relatively little impact, than later, when it could cause greater damage.
What makes it even more sensational is that the financial settlement is the most significant amount won by Israelis against technology giants such as Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Facebook, etc.
LinkedIn, for its part, claims that the privacy policy regulations have changed, and therefore they were able to reach a compromise and not pay the original claim amount.
The second news regarding LinkedIn will affect users worldwide and will certainly be appreciated in Israel. LinkedIn is becoming the only major platform where one can schedule posts from the profile without third-party platforms and without the need to transition to a business profile. This feature, combined with the fact that the company is establishing a development center in Israel, as well as the financial settlement regarding the spam law, illustrates the company’s understanding of both the Israeli market and the overall needs of customers worldwide.
Why is it more significant than ever?
Let’s examine the first item. In the past, LinkedIn would request access to an email during the registration phase and send invitations to the user’s contacts to join LinkedIn. If there was no response, it would send another email, and if there were still no response or registration, then LinkedIn would send a final email. The spam issue was passed into law in October 2014. The issue of spam in Israel is very sensitive because of the number of frequent elections in recent years. In every election, Israelis receive a large number of disruptive messages. The very fact that they reached a compromise for such an amount is a tremendous achievement.
If we go back to the first years of the major social networks that we know today, ten years ago, there were external tools for scheduling posts. Later, Facebook Business and the business version of Instagram added this option in a structured way within the platform on the condition that users would transition to a business account. Other social networks could utilize this feature only with external tools, which in LinkedIn’s case, could endanger the user’s account. LinkedIn users have been waiting for the ability to schedule posts for ten years, and it can be used without the need to switch to a business account and without an external tool.
The LinkedIn Dilemma
This feature has advantages and disadvantages both now and in the future. Should it be kept free? Should it limit the number of posts that can be scheduled? Will it have an AI system that will scan the text and limit prohibited content?
The same goes for the email policy. On the one hand, it is in LinkedIn’s interest that as many users as possible join. On the other, LinkedIn has already proven that it can edit its policy regulations to avoid a lawsuit. Should it change its communication with users to be gentler or harsh, or should it leave the policies as is?
What can you expect from LinkedIn?
If we zoom out and look at LinkedIn over the past five years, there is one thing that can be seen: dynamism. LinkedIn is the platform that makes the most changes, and this is something we can expect to continue. Even if more “bad news” arrives, LinkedIn can be sure that it will “disappear” among the good news. Perhaps this is part of its strategy. It may be a coincidence, but the only sure thing is that LinkedIn will continue to be successful in Israel as in any other country.