“Anything you can do, I can do better…”
Or such is the hope inside the walled-garden for Facebook, which is, yet again, attempting to edge out competition by creating similar functions to its competitors.
The social media giant took a direct swipe at LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and other job listing sites, with the launch of a platform for US businesses to post open job listings natively to their pages and in the News Feed.
This method of copying other brands’ greatest assets is nothing new for Facebook. The social media company has a long-standing tradition of using this tactic to edge out close competition. From the Instagram Stories, to Facebook “Masks,” to the testing of a Facebook “Flash,” the company has been mimicking competitors for years.
The initial LinkedIn shots were taken in November, when Facebook began testing a similar feature with a “jobs” tab on business Pages, along with recruiting offerings such as allowing Page administrators to create postings and receive applications within the platform.
However, the new roll out, appears more focused, as the function will enable businesses, of all sizes, to post a job directly to its page with an auto-fill application available to those interested to speed up the process. Employers will then be given the opportunity to respond directly to applicants through Messenger.
Facebook will let businesses pay to boost the reach of their listings to specific demographics, and listings will also show up in the News Feed for people who have liked a business’s page.
While the function is not a definitive success yet, it is just the latest example of Facebook’s long-term strategy that seeks to have users get everything they need online within its suite of products while boosting the platform’s data set around users and information that is valuable to marketers.
