It is not surprising, to many of our readers, that LinkedIn was acquired by Microsoft on 13 June 2016 for $26.2 billion dollars. LinkedIn is the preeminent business network and has realized tremendous growth and acceptance over the last decade. LinkedIn is a very powerful resource and has greatly benefitted its users and the business community as a whole, since its inception.
What might be surprising to some readers, is that there have already been some significant changes made to the LinkedIn platform. One such change, which captured my immediate attention, is the removal of the social networking buttons which allow you to share your LinkedIn posts on Facebook and Twitter. What does this tell us? It could just be a result of platform changes and might just be a temporary omission until things are sorted out. But it could have a deeper meaning…
In researching this further, it came to my attention that Microsoft has a social networking platform named So.cl which was launched in 2012. I’ve been deeply intrenched in the online space for over twenty years and I try very hard to keep up with all the changes, but I didn’t even know about So.cl until today! In all fairness, I am a Mac user, but I’m still surprised I hadn’t heard of it. I’m curious if you were already aware of So.cl? Please use the comment box to let us know 🙂
So, in light of the removal of the FaceBook and Twitter share buttons and in consideration of Microsoft’s fledgling So.cl social network, is it unreasonable to wonder if Microsoft has plans to give Facebook and Twitter a run for the money?
LinkedIn would be an exceptional platform to increase the awareness of, and to drive users to, Microsoft’s So.cl network.
It is my opinion that social networks are subject to the Mom’s and Dad’s social network stigma among younger users. As popular as Facebook is, they is not immune. Business networks are less affected by this stigma… In my opinion they might even get better with age.
Kudos to team Microsoft for making what I see as an exceptional strategic acquisition! Although you may not have heard of So.cl until now, I suspect you will be hearing quite a bit more soon.
I would greatly value your thoughts, opinions, likes and shares!
Claude Dauman
Socl.com forwards to so.cl
Thank you for your reply Carlos. Excellent observation.
I don’t know if the social removal from linkedin and so.cl are connected, as I see that you can sign into so.cl using the Facebook Single Signon.
Thank you for your reply Sean. Excellent observation.
In my opinion, keeping the Facebook Single Sign On active at so.cl seems to benefit so.cl as it makes it easier to draw and secure Facebook users.
Nice job, very interesting connection of dots. However none of this will matter in a couple years. If Microsoft is involved they’ll screw it up somehow and make the $6B Aquantive disaster look like chicken feed.
Thank you for your reply Mike.
I use a Mac now, but I have fond memories of reloading my Windows ’95 o/s, several times a year, one disc at a time and being hypnotized by the slow and graceful progress of the status bar.
I hope it won’t be an another Nokia for Microsoft!
Thank you for your reply.
Let’s hope not.
Not sure if you mean this but my share buttos are still there
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Hi Frank,
Thank you for your comment.
They are there when you first publish the post, but they seemingly were removed when you go back to your post later.
Yesterday I noticed that they incorporated Facebook and Twitter social sharing into the LinkedIn share button.