Professional social media network LinkedIn will be expanding its reach to include China according to an announcement made by company CEO Jeff Weiner on Monday. With China’s questionable history of internet censorship and blocking, LinkedIn will become one of the largest American social media presences in the country.
LinkedIn’s Chinese network will use Simplified Chinese in order to reach out to the country’s network of over 140 million professionals. Although the company will be obliged to the Chinese government’s strict requirements to continue offering service, Weiner claimed that content would only be restricted when absolutely necessary. “Extending our service in China raises difficult questions, but it is clear to us that the decision to proceed is the right one,” Weiner said.
As of writing, LinkedIn hosts a network of 277 million members from across the globe, with the final aim of connection professionals everywhere. With famous social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter being completely banned in China, LinkedIn may offer new windows of opportunity between American and Chinese networkers.