LinkedIn adds Hindi service to target more Indian users • The Register – TheRegister

Microsoft’s social network LinkedIn has added a Hindi version of its service. File this one under “what took you so long?” because, as LinkedIn’s announcement notes, over 600 million people speak Hindi. That makes it the third-most-spoken language in the world, behind English and Mandarin. LinkedIn already serves languages with far fewer speakers, including Norwegian or Thai. That the service has amassed over 82 million Indian users – its second-largest national population – without supporting Hindi suggests the network’s reasoning: English is widely spoken in India and very widely used in business, academia, the media, and of course the technology industry. But LinkedIn wants more users, so has added the extra language. “You will now be able to create your LinkedIn profile in Hindi, making it easier for other Hindi-speaking members and recruiters to find you for relevant opportunities,” announced LinkedIn’s country manager Ashutosh Gupta. “You can also access the feed, jobs, messaging, and create content in Hindi. “As the next step, we’re working towards widening the range of job opportunities available for Hindi-speaking professionals across industries, including more banking and government jobs,” Gupta added. Left unspoken is that LinkedIn charges for job ads, mines user-provided data to target ads,…
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