Microsoft will buy LinkedIn for $ 26.2 billion

On June 13, Microsoft announced the purchase of a business social network LinkedIn for $ 26.2 billion. Jeff Weiner, the current head of the company, will retain his post, and Microsoft itself is not going to significantly change the acquired social network. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of this year, after which the most popular business social network will become Microsoft’s property.
According to Nadella, head of Microsoft, the social network can be integrated into existing Office 365 products.

Good or bad

For Microsoft, definitely good. Unlike Google, the Redmond community did not begin to invent their own social network, but bought a ready-made one. A decent audience and PR in the acquired network already have, it is popular and almost has no direct competitors.
On the other hand, social networks are not a profile direction for Microsoft, which is not famous for bringing to mind what it buys. For example, Skype, acquired by Redmond in 2011, is not to say that I get a second life under the guidance of small-scale ones. Judging by the statistics , Skype is surely inferior to WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger (omitting the details, how this product came out on the second place), Chinese QQ Mobile and WeChat. Why should LinkedIN not suffer a similar fate?

Another interesting topic is not the most friendly behavior of the current social network. It should be mentioned at least mass mailings to the mail list when registering or synchronizing contacts. I think many people have come across LinkedIN’s weekly offers to register on the social network, and it’s not so easy to cancel this subscription - you need to write to the support (at least it was a few months ago). Microsoft is not famous for tact (take at least all the boring situation with the Windows update). Now you can be invited not only by mail, but also by Xbox, phone, search engine and coffee maker.
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Analogs

Fortunately there is. For example, Facebook has Facebook at Work . Less similar, but similar - indeed and Dice . However, none of the mentioned resources are as popular as LinkedIN.

And here, in fact, the reaction in the network:

- I would like to add you as a friend on LinkedIn ...
- Only if you already have a new Windows 10

- Evgeny Kozlov (@ekozlov) June 13, 2016

WINDOWS 10 WOULD LIKE YOU TO ADD YOU TO ITS PROFESSIONAL NETWORK ON LINKEDIN

- Ilagee (@Ilagee) June 13, 2016