How will LinkedIn’s acquisition of Lynda.com change professionals' favorite network?
Now that LinkedIn has acquired www.lynda.com, professionals on the social network can learn the skills they need to advance their careers in addition to making and fostering important contacts.
According to their own literature, lynda.com, “is a leading online learning company that helps anyone learn business, technology and creative skills to achieve personal and professional goals. Through individual, corporate, academic and government subscriptions, members have access to the lynda.com and Video2Brain video library of more than 6,300, engaging, top-quality courses and more than 267,000 video tutorials taught by recognized industry experts. The company also provides German, French and Spanish-language content under the video2brain brand name.
The acquisition is valued at approximately $1.5 billion, in a combination of approximately 52 percent cash and approximately 48 percent stock. LinkedIn announced the intention to acquire lynda.com in April.
This move strengthens LinkedIn’s foothold in the career advancement and networking niche and propels it into the education technology market practically overnight. An important reason for the acquisition is that it looks to generate more revenue from its 347 million users and expand its mission to “connect more people to opportunity.”
Speaking to cio.com, Forrester senior analyst Kim Celestre stated: “This is a very smart move for LinkedIn because it increases the value that the professional network provides to its members, recruiters and marketers. It also helps LinkedIn expand into the schools, businesses and governments that are currently using the Lynda.com platform for large e-learning initiatives.”
Lynda.com has a wealth of educational resources, including 3,500 online video courses. The success or failure of this acquisition will depend on how well LinkedIn integrates Lynda.com’s assets into its platform.
Celestre says she expects full Lynda.com courses and professional certificates to be prominently displayed on LinkedIn status updates and member profiles. She also foresees LinkedIn displaying a status bar on profiles to indicate individual course progress and provide details about recently acquired skills or specialties, according to cio.com.
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