SUMMARY
India is LinkedIn’s second-largest market after the US with 82 Mn users, accounting for only 10% of its global user base
To add more users to its total base, LinkedIn will allow users to access and translate their feed, profiles and jobs in Hindi, and also create dual profiles, through the Hindi interface
The platform claims that will be adding more Hindi publishers and creators, to boost member engagement and conversations in Hindi
According to the 2011 census, 129 Mn Indians (a little over 10% of the population) speak English. Yet, a social platform like LinkedIn, which connects professionals around the world, could only think of operating for this small part of the Indian population. But the change has come, albeit a little late. Linkedin has rolled out an interface based Hindi support for its users.
Apart from Hindi-support, in a bid to attract another 600 Mn Indian professionals on its platform, LinkedIn is working on introducing government and banking job opportunities available to Hindi speaking professionals.
Users will be able to access and translate their feed, profiles and jobs in Hindi, and also create dual profiles — one in English and another in Hindi. LinkedIn has made messaging and creating content in Hindi available on desktop, and on their Android as well as iOS phones conditional to the hardware’s keyboard.
Currently, India, its second-largest market, accounts for 82 Mn (only a little more than 10% of the total 800 Mn) userbase on LinkedIn. “The member base has grown by 20+ Mn in the past three years (15% year-on-year growth). It has witnessed a spike in engagement and conversations on the platform since the pandemic,” the company said in a statement.
Through this launch, the networking platform aims to break down language barriers, it said in a statement. Further, with Hindi added to its cap, LinkedIn now claims to support 25 languages including Chinese, Arabic, Roman, Thai, French, among others.
Tier 2-3 cities in India, are often an afterthought for budding brands. But with digital penetration doubling up in the country, all businesses need to match the trending fashion — vernacularism. Ecommerce, social commerce and social media have already gone vernacular, emphasising the need to bring more and more internet users to their platforms.
The marketplaces for professionals, on the other hand, which includes platforms like unicorn Apna, Indeed, Monster among others are yet to jump on the bandwagon. Focussed on bringing vernacular speakers to the English mix, some platforms offer courses to learn English. But LinkedIn’s move marks inclusion over education.
The platform claims that it will be adding more Hindi publishers and creators, to boost member engagement and conversations in Hindi.
