LinkedIn Group’s New Feature: Top Contributors
As of December 5th, 2013 LinkedIn has added another new feature to improve the quality and quantity of content and interactions in groups. This feature is called Top Contributors. LinkedIn defines top contributors as:
“Top contributors are group members who post the most interesting discussions and comments.”
To find out what kind of contributor you are in each of your groups, simply visit a group. Located on the top right side of a group page, you will notice the top contributors to the group as well as your personal contribution level located just below.
If you feel like you need to improve your contribution level or work towards a group badge, you can do this by posting great content that is helpful and relevant to the group on a regular basis. It is also a good idea to read the content shared by other group members and comment or reply in a way that is helpful and appropriate. Remember it is not just about how often you comment or reply but rather how often people interact with your posts and comments.
The opposite is also true. If you post spam or inappropriate content in a group or are just commenting for the sake of leaving a comment or to provoke a reaction, your level will go down. It will also go down if you are not regularly interacting in the group.
The levels are recalculated daily and from beginner to super contributor, the 5 levels are:
- Getting started
- Finding an audience
- Making an impact
- Building influence
- Top Contributor
This new feature could prove helpful, not only to group owners to see who their best contributors are but also to generally improve groups as people work towards getting better contribution levels and a group badge.
How well this new feature will work versus how it is intended to work, remains to be seen. Will it be just another form of arbitrary social proof like Klout? Without knowing exactly how the ranking system is decided or how much any particular group member will care about their own personal ranking, it is hard to say. What do you think of this new feature? Leave your opinion in the comments below.
