If you're a professional with a LinkedIn account, chances are your inbox is stuffed full of invitations to connect, celebrate "work anniversaries," and rejoice over endorsements from colleagues. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner knows the flood of notifications can be overwhelming.
In a wide-ranging interview with BuzzFeed San Francisco Bureau Chief Mat Honan Thursday night, Weiner conceded that LinkedIn may be overdoing it with email. "There are certain members to whom we're sending too much email," Weiner said. "That needs to be corrected and improved, and it will be."
While LinkedIn offers an array of email notification options — including the ability to unsubscribe from them entirely — Weiner conceded that not everyone takes the time to manage their notifications. "I think most people want things to be easy and frictionless," he said.
In the beginning, LinkedIn viewed email notifications as an important piece of its growth strategy. To make the fledgling social network for workers enticing and useful, it needed to achieve a certain scale. One way to do that was by engaging users over email. "Growth matters in those early days," Weiner said.
Now that LinkedIn has matured, the company is considering adjusting its notification practices. Said Weiner, "We need to do a better job of figuring out when to send you an email."