LinkedIn just unveiled a new
service for surfacing the top headlines and stories being shared across its network of 90 million professionals. Dubbed LinkedIn Today, the Twitter-like offering gives users a way to stay on top of trending news that can be customized according to a particular industry and their own connections, as
well as the broader LinkedIn community.
The 22 industries, which users can choose to "follow" for updates, include real estate, nonprofits, marketing and the Internet, culled from a wide range
of new sources -- from the Financial Times to Mashable. "Having a professional and tailored lens on news and insights is not only an efficient way to gather information for your work day, but
it also arms you with the insights you need to make strategic business decisions," stated Deep Nishar, senior vice president of product and user experience at LinkedIn.
More broadly, the new
offering is aimed at boosting engagement on LinkedIn via a live news feed.
LinkedIn also deepened its integration with Twitter so members can link their accounts and share updates across the
two properties. Within LinkedIn Today, users will also be able to tweet trending news to their Twitter account, post it to a LinkedIn Group and email it directly to their existing
LinkedIn connections.
In addition, the new service will feature relevant StumbleUpon content tailored to each industry, including evergreen and trending content recommended by that site's
community of over 14 million members. LinkedIn Today has a "Top Sources" section that recommends news sources from sites with LinkedIn Share buttons, such as Bloomberg.com, Wall Street Journal Digital
Network, and CNN Money.
LinkedIn in January filed for an IPO with a pro-forma fund-raising goal of $175 million. The company reported $161.4 million in net revenue and $31.6 million in
adjusted earnings for the first nine months of 2010. At least one estimate puts its post-IPO valuation at $2 billion.