LinkedIn Launches URL Shortener, Enhances Sharing Options For Content

Professional social network LinkedIn has been steadily expanding its presence outside of its platform through integrations with Twitter, and Microsoft Outlook and opening up the platform’s API. And as LinkedIn takes its data and status updates from users outside of the network, the company has enhanced its sharing and privacy options for users. And LinkedIn is launching an official URL shortener, Lnkd.in, for any links shared from its site.

With new public vs. private controls, you get complete control over who sees what you’re sharing both on the network or on Twitter, whether it’s everyone, your connections, a group, or a specific individual. And when you share a link or URL on the site or on Twitter, you’ll be able to shorten the link with companion URL shortener, Lnkd.in.

Instead of creating a branded URL shortener with Bit.ly, LinkedIn decided to develop its own application so it could tie it directly into LinkedIn’s own back-end, with high SLAs and data fidelity.

LinkedIn has made significant enhancements to its sharing features. When you share a news article, LinkedIn will now allows you to customize what the excerpt of the news article you are linking to. So users may have more of an incentive to click on a link that includes an image or the first few lines of what content the link is taking them to. LinkedIn has also stepped up its attribution in terms of sharing, by attributing something you re-share to the person who shared it with you.

With 65 million members, LinkedIn is steadily growing in terms of users. And CEO Jeff Weiner says the company is implementing a product strategy of bringing LinkedIn to any sites or platforms that people may use in their professional life. As the platform expands its presence on the web, it inevitably needs to both enhance and offer restrictions on sharing. And it also needs to track what is being spread from its site, which the URL shortener will do.