Over the last week or two LinkedIn has rolled out some new features.

One is the ability to “follow” “thought leaders.” How these thought leaders are determined is anyone’s guess. I’m seeing Richard Branson, Ari Emanuel, President Obama and Mitt Romney on my LI home page when I log in.

(Can someone tell Mitt Romney that you can have a profile pic on LinkedIn now?)

Also, you can now “endorse” LinkedIn connections for certain skills. If you haven’t seen this yet, it should appear at the top of your connections’ pages. Here’s a link to my page, but anyone’s should have this up top: http://www.linkedin.com/in/therichbrooks

Will this change your LinkedIn marketing? If so, how? 

Do you like the new recommendations, or is too Klout like?

Do you like the idea of being able to follow thought leaders, or do you wish you could choose your own? 

@rich-brooks I have used the endorsements a bit and I like it.  I think it might be helpful to have others see that you have been endorsed.  As far as thought leaders, I agree with @claudiapoeckl.

@holly-campbell

Holly, are you saying you just the SME Small Biz networking club and you’re unsure how to create a post? 

If so, go to http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/clubs/small-business/forum/ and you should see a button that says “New Topic” just below the character at his desk above Small Business Club.

If I misunderstood your question, let me know!

@rich-brooks I used the endorse once for a co-worker but not overly interested in it. Following thought leaders is interesting and I’ve signed up for a few feeds. As a curator, I’m always glad to review information. Still the changes have not made me more active on the platform. 

I wonder if the changes have helped engagement however as my September social media report at work showed an uptick in activity from my LinkedIn posts (but so did Facebook).

I think the changes have made LinkedIn more social … Or at least it appears that way. I’m getting quite a bit more activity show up in my emails and on my LinkedIn dashboard.