Member Avatar for MktgRob

I just read a story that the Wall Street Journal is looking into setting up a Linkedin-type social network to compete with Linkedin. They did try to set up an on-line community in 2008 but it has failed miserably. This time could be different. Their initial attempt to set-up an online community was a half-hearted attempt to grab a piece of the social networking explosion. It was originally intended for their subscribers only. However, as NewsCorp owns the WSJ and they are not ones to accept a failure and walk away, I think they will build a robust community that will be able to offer some content that Linkedin cannot. What do you think and would you participate if it is comparable to Linkedin?

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Short answer: a publisher can only beat a specialist network by turning its editorial assets into membership value and solving activation + trust problems better than the incumbents. Building on points from (promotion/feature parity) and (retention concerns), here are concrete, practical moves that actually change outcomes — not just re-skin LinkedIn.

Start with product constraints that favor publishers: curated vertical content, reporter-led communities, and proprietary research. Convert those into immediate value during onboarding (one high-value action before asking for a full profile). Use friction-reducing sign-on, progressive profiles, and a “first‑week wins” checklist so new members see something useful within 48 hours. Seed groups with paid editorial events, invited experts, and a small set of community managers before opening broadly.

Operational tactics to keep activity healthy: require low-friction contributions (comments, one-click polls), run regular editor-moderated AMAs, surface curated job listings tied to articles, and offer premium micro-offerings (reports, live briefings). Prioritize trust: verified identities, transparent moderation, and clear spam controls. Monetize around utility (job listings, sponsored research, ticketed events) rather than banner ads.

Measure what matters and iterate: define an activation funnel (signup → profile complete → join discussion → take a paid action), instrument 1-, 7-, and 30-day cohorts, and run rapid experiments on onboarding copy, email cadence, and seeded content. If growth is slow, widen discovery with public article pages and gated premium features instead of a fully closed garden.

If the goal is to compete with LinkedIn, the differentiator won’t be feature parity — it will be consistently delivered, topic‑specific expertise and events that turn passive readers into repeat contributors.

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Member Avatar for InsightsDigital

Thaks for brining this one up for discussion. I personally have given WSJ online community a try a few times and each time, it did not retain me for the long term. Why? Reasons were:
1. I forgot I even had it.
2. When I did get a reminder - in one case, it was literally a year later, I did update the profile and engaged for that week but I did not find it much value
3. Not much people or activity

I do like WSJ and read its paper. I will give it another try if it provides as much or more than LinkedIn.

Member Avatar for MktgRob

Thaks for brining this one up for discussion. I personally have given WSJ online community a try a few times and each time, it did not retain me for the long term. Why? Reasons were:
1. I forgot I even had it.
2. When I did get a reminder - in one case, it was literally a year later, I did update the profile and engaged for that week but I did not find it much value
3. Not much people or activity

I do like WSJ and read its paper. I will give it another try if it provides as much or more than LinkedIn.

I think the keys will be promoting it (I had heard about the original WSJ community but it was not much of a publicity push) and putting extras and functionality in that is equal to and/or exceeds Linkedin

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