Former LinkedIn China exec criticizes the platform for lagging WeChat

Former LinkedIn China president Derek Shen said Monday that the professional networking site has “lagged way behind” Tencent’s chat platform WeChat, two years after stepping down from the company.

“It’s horrible that the LinkedIn product managers don’t even realize they have lagged way behind a list of new social networking services such as WeChat, feeling good about themselves instead,” said Shen in a LinkedIn post on Monday. The former LinkedIn executive said that he tried to improve the platform when he joined the company six years ago, but struggled to make progress as it involved so many stakeholders within the organization.

Shen’s posted his public gripe after he was unable to message a newly added friend. He also said that the company was prioritizing profits by prominently displaying features such as friend recommendations while leaving out core features such as the friend list.

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