LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube adding options

LinkedIn is even closer to being a one-stop professional social network.

The company's CEO, Jeff Weiner, announced this week that LinkedIn will buy lynda.com, a subscription-based software training website, for $1.5 billion.

It's LinkedIn's biggest acquisition to date, and though the social media platform hasn't announced how members will pay for the service, the skill-based video library joins LinkedIn's job search, SlideShare and additional features that enable members to network with other professionals, find employment opportunities and enhance skills in their industries.

Ryan Roslansky, LinkedIn's head of content products, wrote:

Imagine being a job seeker and being able to instantly know what skills are needed for the available jobs in a desired city, like Denver, and then to be prompted to take the relevant and accredited course to help you acquire this skill. Or doing a search on SlideShare to learn about integrated marketing and then to be prompted with a lynda.com course on the same subject.

Weiner explained the match between LinkedIn and lynda.com in a blog post:

LinkedIn's fundamental value proposition is connecting people to opportunity. We've made significant progress in this area; nearly 350 million members can use LinkedIn to find a job, build a business, and be more successful in their careers. However, matching talent and opportunity is a simplified take on the equation. Without access to education and the ability to acquire skills, many of these opportunities will remain far out of reach for most people.

With today's announcement that LinkedIn intends to acquire lynda.com, LinkedIn has taken a material step forward toward connecting these dots.
MBR> Lynda Weinman, founder of lynda.com, said in a blog post both she and Weiner "believe that the skills gap is one of the leading social issues of our time."

"Technology changes fast and people need to keep their skills up to date," Weinman said.

Twitter refines searches; YouTube courts advertisers

Clearly, LinkedIn is trying to bolster its reputation as the go-to place for job seekers, but it's not the only social media platform making changes to attract users.

Twitter is enhancing its search filtering options, enabling users to filter searches by live results, nearby accounts and tweets from people one follows. New features also include the ability to save and embed search results.

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