Linkedin has announced a new strategy to target teens in a bid to attract new members to its services.
It will allow users as young as 13 to join the professional networking site. The announcement followed the launch of University Pages, which will give younger users the opportunity to research potential universities, plan their careers and connect with a vast alumni network.
While the company won’t profit from University Pages, it is regarded as a vital strategic move to expand its user base and establish a relationship with young people before they join the workforce.
Using YouGov’s social media analysis tool, SoMA, we can see the impact of this announcement on Twitter and Facebook.
On 19 August, 19.8% of UK Twitter users and 0.62% of Facebookers heard about Linkedin, up from 4.5% and 0.06% on 18 August on the respective networks. The news continued to gain traction yesterday, with 24% of Twitter and 0.7% of Facebook users having been exposed to a mention of Linkedin on their private feeds.
Interestingly, we can see that the demographic group that this news was most relevant to (18-24 year olds) were more exposed to the news on Facebook. Between 19-20 August 14% of those that heard about Linkedin on Facebook were aged 18-24, compared to 7% on Twitter during the same period.
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