Why you should check your LinkedIn settings sometimes

Today I was exploring LinkedIn (again - been doing this since they opened) and came across an option in my profile I had not seen before - that would be the ability for someone in WeChat to call / connect with me using, of course, WeChat, from my LinkedIn profile. Cool!

I had signed up for WeChat for the same reason I sign-up for a lot of platforms - I wanted to understand how people would use the platform. My interest usually starts at the business end of things and then transitions into how people / consumers might use it. Both are important, but the business question is my usual first cut on a platform.

The second reason though for signing-up with WeChat was because I'm keeping an eye on the people who own WeChat - which would be Tencent. Don't know who Tencent is? A lot of people in North America and possibly the UK might not recognize the name, but anyone following China and AsiaPac will know them. They're the powerhouse behind about half of what's happening in social behind the firewalls / closed systems that surround the country and its people - QQ, PaiPai and literally a dozen other platforms in entertainment, eCommerce and value-add services

Will WeChat be a power in the Western Hemisphere? Not sure, but with Reed and the guy at LinkedIn opening up the product to include it, we can expect that we'll see more of it before we see less.

As for me, I did link my WeChat to my profile - let me know if you're doing the same and reach out - I only have a half-dozen friends using WeChat so far.