Employment-focused social network LinkedIn will now allow its users to eliminate all political content with the click of a button.
LinkedIn added a button to its settings on Wednesday that allows users to block any political content from its news feed. The feature arose as other social networks have come under scrutiny for promoting political misinformation and encouraging political polarization.
When asked how LinkedIn would regulate what counts as political content, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky told the Wall Street Journal that the platform determines a post’s political nature through its “editorial team,” “semantic classifiers,” and community feedback.
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This feature includes restrictions on anything involving “political parties and candidates, election outcomes, and ballot initiatives,” the company said on its support website.
The feature is only available to a small group of users, Roslansky said. However, LinkedIn intends to expand the feature based on how well-received it is. LinkedIn says it added the feature after users sent the company feedback claiming the prominence of political content has “hampered” their experience.
The public has grown increasingly frustrated with the prominence of political posts in social feeds. A 2020 Pew Research Center survey found that 55% of Americans are “worn out” by political posts and discussions.
“This is all about giving all of our members greater choice and control,” a spokesperson for LinkedIn told the Washington Examiner. The company described the new option as similar to its other tools for controlling what content crosses its news feed, such as following or unfollowing accounts and blocking hashtags or industries.
“We also recognize that different groups of members are using our platform in different ways,” the company said. “This is all part of why we’re testing a new setting to allow our members in the U.S. to hide political content in their feed that they don’t want to see.”
It remains unclear how notable this option will be. LinkedIn boasts a user base of 800 million users and has become a powerful tool for employers and job-seekers alike. However, LinkedIn is rarely considered among the Big Tech social networks when it comes to questions about social media’s effects on political discourse. It is owned by Big Tech company Microsoft.
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The company has attempted to expand its influencer presence in recent years, including an expansion of its Creator Accelerator Program and the implementation of a Clubhouse-esque live audio space.
