four affordances presentation

1. THE FOUR AFFORDANCES:
LINKEDIN
BY SARAH FINE

2. THE BIRTH OF LINKEDIN
• Created by Reid Hoffman in
2002
• Aimed to create a
professional networking
platform
• Recruited former coworkers
from PayPal and SocialNet to
collaborate on something
new
• Official Launch: May 2003
• Financed by PayPal Image Source:
https://ourstory.linkedin.com/content/dam/ourstory/static/assets/images/2004/ame

3. LINKEDIN’S GOAL
“Creating economic opportunity for every
professional…connecting the world’s
professionals to make them more productive
and successful.” –Jeff Weiner, CEO

4. TIMELINE
• 2002: Idea conceived
• 2003: Official launch
• 112 users
• 2005: Advertising launched
• 2 million users
• 2006: First year of profit
• 2008: First mobile app
• 2010: First global
headquarters opened in
London, England
• 90 million users
• Foreign language compatibility
launched in Spanish and French
• 2011: IPO launch
• 2013: 10 year anniversary
• 225 million users
• 2016: Microsoft acquires
LinkedIn for $26.2 billion after
stock plummets

5. Image Source:
https://assets.wired.com/photos/w_2064/wp-

6. AFFORDANCE 1: PROCEDURAL
• Algorithms used
for…
• Searching another
user or company
• Newsfeed visibility
• Each user’s
Newsfeed looks
different based on
“connections,”
”groups,” and
“interests”
• Suggested
connections

7. AFFORDANCE 2: PARTICIPATORY
• Social participation
• Requesting connections
• Ability to create statuses and
share content
• Facebook-like interactions with
a professional tint
• Chat ability
• Input of personal info
Image Source:
https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAaBAAAAJGYyM2M0NDk0LTE4YTUtNDk2My05Zjg2LTE2YjlmZ

8. AFFORDANCE 3: ENCYCLOPEDIC
• Archive of user
network/database
• Archive of available
job positions
• Archive of various
social/academic/profe
ssional sub-groups

9. AFFORDANCE 4: SPATIAL
• Toolbar at the top of every window
• Predominantly vertical layout, typically split into three relevant
sections of content per page
• User profiles with company logos and personal photos

10. ANALYSIS
• All four affordances work together to create what makes LinkedIn a
unique and interactive professional network
• Algorithms for personalization (procedural) are at its core, but they
can’t be utilized without the personal information (participatory) and
user to user interactions, like sending requests and joining groups
• The job-seeking feature is completely dependent on encyclopedic
information, while the usability is reliant on the spatial affordance
• The affordances of LinkedIn interplay in a way where each is just as
important as the other

11. THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE
• Using the internet as the medium by which this network is generated
and maintained makes it synonymous with accessibility and ease, two
words that are rarely used in reference to the job market and/or
search
• Part of how the medium conveys the message of LinkedIn is that
being a functioning professional doesn’t need to be taxing or
mundane, instead it can be fun, social and interactive
• Photos and videos are also part of the medium that shape the
message, which people typically find comforting, again working
against the stressful image the workforce generally maintains

12. SOURCES
• https://www.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-to-acquire-linkedin-
in-deal-valued-at-26-2-billion-1465821523
• http://bebusinessed.com/history/history-of-linkedin/
• https://ourstory.linkedin.com/
• http://firstround.com/review/the-management-framework-
that-propelled-LinkedIn-to-a-20-billion-company/