Announce your Status to your professional network

The blog has given me an opportunity to announce some really cool feature enhancements to the different ways you communicate on LinkedIn. Today, in addition to the new homepage redesign that Elliot demoed, I'd like to call out a few nifty features that'll most definitely enhance the way you relate to your professional network each time you log into LinkedIn.

Feel free to check out a quick demo below, of the three feature upgrades followed by a quick summary after the jump:
http://www.youtube.com/v/R_bTlnqZ1y8]

1. Simplified Inbox

In order to present you with the most appropriate messages in your LinkedIn Inbox, we've altered the logic so that your Inbox shows the five most recent actionable messages. We've also made it easier for you to take an appropriate action directly from the LinkedIn homepage (see demo). Of course, clicking on the Inbox icon takes you to a full-fledged Inbox page, yet again within the consistent look-and-feel that Elliot described earlier.

2. Customized Network Updates

We're also giving you, the user, more control over what types of network updates you're currently viewing on your homepage. By clicking to "Network Updates" ("Homepage Settings") under your "Accounts and Settings", you'll be able to choose:

a. The kinds of updates you'd rather see on your homepage (photo updates, status updates, etc...)
b. The number of updates you'd like to see on your homepage (10, 15, 20, etc...)

3. Status

Most professionals love sharing anecdotes, tidbits about their professional lives with one another and thus far on LinkedIn it wasn't possible to do so. Starting today, you should be able to update your current status on a daily basis, which should provide you not only an additional way to communicate effectively with your immediate network but also  tap into the knowledge network you're a part of.

We do suggest status options such as "working on...", "traveling to...", "looking for advice on...", "looking for a job..." or "reading..."; but you also have the option to update status with any other professional tasks you're currently engrossed in. Imagine being able to let your network know that you're hiring or when you're planning a business trip or conference!

Status information will be broadcast to your connections as a network update and will also appear as a new element on your profile page. Given our focus on ensuring user privacy, you will have the option to control your status visibility. Additionally, LinkedIn members can choose whether they want to see the status in their network updates feed.

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Feel free to leave comments. Your feedback is much appreciated. And, let me know how I can do better on camera!