Microsoft is buying LinkedIn for $ 26.2 billion. The social network for professionals, which now has 400 million users, is about to be owned by the group founded by Bill Gates. A significant acquisition that shows how the group’s interest is focused more and more on the development of its products and software. Thinking that Instagram was acquired by Facebook for 1 billion; for WhatsApp they were disbursed 19 million and, last but not least, for Skype 8.5 billion. LinkedIn is worth much more, that bears witness to the present-day role of this social.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, LinkedIn “will maintain its distinctive brand, culture and independence,” and then, at this time, the merger should not affect the mission and the nature of the social network.
The goal of this operation is to strengthen the LinkedIn services so as to make it more competitive and an ideal platform for the world of work. Since Facebook has launched the “Facebook at Work”, a service which is still being finalised to provide services for companies, LinkedIn want to enhance its image as a company that makes possible the encounter between supply and demand. These are the ambitions of the ‘new era’. The future of professional social networks seems to be to combine services and connections into a single platform.