Microsoft purchased LinkedIn (https://www.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-closes-acqu...). In my experience (tech guy and Microsoft "Partner"), they ruin everything they touch. Examples of less functionality, effectiveness, and usability after Microsoft purchase are Hotmail, Skype, Nokia, and a host of other more obscure companies and technologies. Microsoft in general has a "we're too big to care" and a "we know better than you" mindset that colors everything they do. Often they buy a product, service, or technology to specifically and intentionally "shelve it" (get it off the market or save it for later attention). Sometimes they just want to eliminate a competing approach to something, sometimes they want to integrate it.

Since they feel a sense of competition with Google (who has Google+) and Facebook, I half expect them to try to turn LinkedIn into their own version and try to make it less about professional connections and more about being a social marketplace and destination. Sometimes a new interface can be a good thing, but do we really need another overly busy social platform? Personally, I'm not interested. In fact, I'm not really sure I have an interest in this Alignable platform. There are already too many distractions, so I have begun asking myself seriously: "Does this actually benefit me or my company?"