LinkedIn has added a helpful feature that allows users to listen to how a person's name must be pronounced. Members will be able to hear the audio clip by pressing a small button on a member's profile.
Interestingly, the recordings can only be added using LinkedIn's mobile apps on iOS and Android. Users on the web will only be able to listen to it, but for now, there is no option to make recordings on desktop computers.
To add the correct pronunciation of your name, tap LinkedIn on your smartphone, click View Profile, Edit, and then you should see a new "Record name pronunciation" option. You can read the step-by-step guide on the platform's Help center.
It's a fairly simple feature, and Facebook even has one, but not for selected areas. It's a good opportunity to learn correct name pronunciations, though, and will prevent unprofessional or awkward mistakes, especially when you have to speak to a particular contact on LinkedIn.
The correct pronunciation is also an integral part of creating an inclusive workplace, according to Joseph Akoni, a product manager at LinkedIn who developed the new feature.
"Everyone, including myself, makes mistakes when pronouncing other people's names," Akoni told The Wall Street Journal. "I've encountered this personally with my Nigerian middle name - there's a 99% chance someone won't pronounce it correctly on the first try."
An issue that comes with this feature, however, is something that involves the platform's deaf or hard-of-hearing users. But the company said it is working to develop more accessibility features. What these features are, we don't know, but it did now specifically mention any form of written pronunciation feature.
Several LinkedIn users have already seen and tried the feature, but if you haven't yet, it should arrive soon. The company said it would roll out the option to all of its over 680 million users in July.
Having the option to hear the correct pronunciation of one's name on LinkedIn itself is convenient, but it's prone to misuse too. After all, those 10 seconds can be used to record anything.
Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn's pronunciation feature relies on users-not a bot-to enunciate their names correctly. LinkedIn isn't exactly troll-proof, and there are also those overly zealous and pushy business types who'd do anything to extoll whatever they have.
Only time will tell where this feature will take LinkedIn. But already, we're looking forward to hearing the names of some colleagues.
