Microsoft Purchases Social Media Giant LinkedIn for $26.2 Billion, Should Apple Make a Similar Move?

Apple is known for a lot of things, but social media isn’t one of them. The popular iPhone-maker just hasn’t focused on breaking into the ever-growing social media market. They missed the boat on YouTube, when Google bought the company, and now Microsoft is buying LinkedIn, a popular social media platform for working professionals.

AppleInsider reports that the Windows OS developer will pay $196 per share, which comes to $26.2 billion. Microsoft has “vowed to allow LinkedIn to retain its distinct brand, culture and independence after the transaction is complete.”

It’s a similar stance the company took when they acquired the popular game, Minecraft last year. A transaction that occurred after Markus Persson, founder of the video game developer Mojang, tweeted: “Anyone want to buy my share of Mojang so I can move on with my life? Getting hate for trying to do the right thing is not my gig” according to Engadget. Some Minecraft gamers were worried about the move, but so far those fears seemed unwarranted.

What sort of changes should be expected for LinkedIn? Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella said quote, “The LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business centered on connecting the world’s professionals. Together we can accelerate the growth of LinkedIn, as well as Microsoft Office 365, and Dynamics as we seek to empower every person and organization on the planet.”

Jay Green from The Wall Street Journal gives an example of how Office 365 and LinkedIn could work together: “Connecting Office directly to LinkedIn could help attendees of meetings learn more about one another directly from invitations in their calendars. Sales representatives using Microsoft’s Dynamics software for managing customer relationships could pick up useful tidbits of background on potential customers from LinkedIn data.” The partnership of the two platforms could give business and organizational professionals the ability to connect more conveniently than it’s currently possible. It’s a move Microsoft is banking will help business deals and other relationships.

Perhaps LinkedIn will be connected with MS Office or maybe Office 365 subscriptions will include premium content for LinkedIn. Whatever the case, it’s another sign of Apple falling behind when it comes to social media. The closest thing Apple has is the Connect feature of Apple Music, but even that seems to be something the company glosses over. At the World Wide Developers Conference on Monday, Connect was barely covered, and any mention of social media was in relationship to some other app or website that isn’t an Apple product.

Social media isn’t Apple’s strong suit, but it would most likely benefit the company if they played catch up soon.

Do you think Apple should design their own social media platform? Let us know in the comments!

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