Microsoft acquired LinkedIn to help it reinvent productivity and business processes.
Fast forward, the giant tech company do show how it managed to bring the community into the social media for professionals.
Here, Microsoft reported that LinkedIn saw 'record levels of engagement' over the last three months of 2019, while the platform also continues to expand its audience across the globe.
And listed in Microsoft's FY20 Q2 report, the company outlined LinkedIn's key performance by saying that:
Since Microsoft acquiring LinkedIn back in 2016, LinkedIn's performance figures are incorporated into Microsoft's larger report.
What this means, the social media isn't directly publishing its performance reports, which did provide more specific insight into usage levels, member numbers, etc.. Here, LinkedIn's performance report isn't as detailed as it was. But based on the available data, LinkedIn is certainly rising.
675 million members is a new milestone for LinkedIn.
It was only back in November 2019 that LinkedIn reported reaching 660 million total members. This suggests that LinkedIn has added at least 15 million during the course of three months.
Microsoft also boasted that more than 5 million of LinkedIn members have already completed LinkedIn’s Skill Assessments, which was introduced back in September 2019. Skill assessments provide another way for LinkedIn users to display their professional competencies, by taking knowledge tests and earn badges in certain key areas of interest.
Additionally, Microsoft noted that LinkedIn's operating cost increased by 12%, "driven by continued investment in LinkedIn and cloud engineering".
What should be noted here is that, despite LinkedIn is having 675 million total members, that doesn't mean that it has the same number of 'active users', which is a measurement common to judge social media's growth.
But still, with more people signing up to the platform, along with the rising level of engagements, would translate to a positive growth for the social network.
On the other side of the story, LinkedIn has been criticized for becoming a little too casual.
LinkedIn is a business and employment-oriented service that operates via websites and mobile apps. It is mainly used for professional networking, including employers posting jobs and job seekers posting their CVs. On the social network, people usually take their professional side, rather than their casual side, like when they use other social media networks.
By becoming more casual, LinkedIn users are sharing more overly personal and non business-relevant posts in order to get engagement. Some people suggested that such activity is the main driver for LinkedIn growth.
But whatever is people's perception, LinkedIn is becoming a money maker for Microsoft, as its revenue increased 24% (up 26% in constant currency).
