LinkedIn spruces up profiles with new images and video

Professional Portfolio allows users to flex their creative muscle

LinkedIn has come a long way from being a very sober-looking, buttoned-up professional site. In the early days, LinkedIn didn't even allow people to put up photos, as the founder Reid Hoffman wanted to maintain a very professional environment.

How times have changed. 

In an attempt to make its pages more visually interesting, and to keep people on the site longer, LinkedIn has added a new feature to its profile pages, one that allows its users to be more flexible and creative when using the site.

LinkedIn members will now be able to add visual media, in the form of photos, videos, presentations and other images to their profiles, it was announced in a blogpost Wednesday. The feature, called Professional Portfolio, will only be available to English speaking users at first.

"There are hundreds of ways for us to express ourselves in our daily lives. From the clothes we wear to the words we choose to use, the pictures we share and the music we play — the possibilities are endless," wrote LinkedIn Project Manager Udi Milo.

"This is equally important in the professional context, as no two professionals are alike. For the first time, you will now have the ability to showcase your unique professional story using rich, visual content on your LinkedIn profile."

To add these new types of media to your profile, all you have to do its select “edit” on your profile then follow the prompts in your “Summary,” “Experience” and “Education” sections.

LinkedIn has also made the site more social by allowing other members to "like” or comment on what has been posted. 

Profile updates

This is the second time in only 8 months that LinkedIn has made changes to its profile pages. 

In October, LinkedIn completely redesigned user profiles, installing a larger picture at the top, which displays work and education info alongside. Right below that it added an activity box, where users can write posts and display articles, which can be linked directly from their profile page.

The site added new  a box running down the right side, where it displays people that the user might know, as well as who has recently viewed their profile. It also provides both the strength of that profile, and ways that users can relate to other people in their network in terms of interests and skills.

New LinkedIn features

LinkedIn's first quarter earnings report will be released on Thursday. In its last report, the company came out well ahead of Wall Street expectations.

LinkedIn posted non-GAAP earnings per share of 35 cents on revenue of $303.6 million, up 81% from $167.7 million in the year-ago period, and well above the consensus estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters of 19 cents a share on revenue of $279.5 million. 

In a call following the release of the report, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner credited the company's successful quarter to the new products delivered by LinkedIn during the year, which came from an accelerated product schedule, from once every two weeks to twice a day. Over the last four months of 2012, Weiner said, the company introduced more new products than during any other similar amount of time in the company's history.

"The products we delivered throughout the year drove number engagements and financial results to record levels in the fourth quarter," he said.

These features included a redesigned homepage that allowed members to discover, share and discuss the professional information that is most relevant to them, as well as "influencers," which were introduced in October, to make the service a professional publishing platform.

With this new feature for LinkedIn profiles, it looks like the company is going to keep riding that winning formula.

(Image source: https://blog.linkedin.com)