Finally! After months and months of pestering the LinkedIn folks to add a laughing emoji to their standard set of post responses, they heard us and have launched a smiley face reaction.
In announcing the new feature, LinkedIn had comedian, actress, and multi-talented producer Mindy Kaling talk about it.
“It’s time to get down to funny business. Let’s be honest…the workplace is a breeding ground for hilarious moments. Your boss, your coworkers, your internship, your office, your career, career change or career break all have the opportunity to produce some of the realest, although sometimes embarrassing, comical moments.”
This is a welcome addition to ways to interact with posts in your feed on LinkedIn. While not quite approaching the level of humor of other social platforms like Facebook or Twitter, the new emoji lets jobseekers, recruiters and employees alike blow off steam about ridiculous practices in business or get a chuckle when they need a break from the serious business of business.
Hopefully the feature will be rolled out to everybody in the coming weeks so that we can all experience the joy of laughter when we need it.
Her post can be found HERE.
There are now seven different ways to interact with a post in the LinkedIn feed. For example:
Love – Expresses that the post is heartwarming, resonates with you, or makes you feel an overall sense of appreciation or happiness. For example:
- When your child visits you at work and thinks you have the greatest job in the world.
- Posts about the importance of work-life balance.
- Witnessing a colleague achieve a goal.
- Thanking your past mentors who helped you get to where you are today.
Insightful – Expresses that you thought the post made a great point, offered a new idea, or shared helpful insights or advice. For example:
- When your company encourages you to take a day off each month to work on a project that you’re passionate about.
- Posts about tips and tricks.
Curious – Expresses that you’re intrigued by a thought-provoking perspective or question, and you want to learn more. For example:
- Asking what people think about a professional trend.
- Debating whether graduate school makes sense at this stage in your career.
LinkedIn has a whole post about the selection of reaction emojis now available HERE that you can check out and learn more about.
Have you used the new laughing emoji yet? Have you wanted something like this before or do you think it doesn’t have a place in a business setting? Drop your comments below.
Tai Freligh is a Los Angeles based writer and can be followed on Twitter, TikTok and Instagram and can be found on his website too. He writes about a variety of topics, including social media and digital marketing tips, entertainment news and exclusive interviews, branding, and more. He is also available on a consulting basis for marketing strategy, content creation, social media management and for brainstorming and answering questions. He is available with both hourly and project rates as well as phone or Zoom consults by the hour.