Pickup lines, LinkedIn-style: The professional network announced the launch Tuesday of personalized conversation starters within its messaging feature.
LinkedIn suggested that users can initiative conversations with contacts they have not communicated with for long time periods by mentioning topics including those contacts? recent professional activities (new jobs, promotions), shared experiences with those contacts and shared connections.
Product manager Sammy Shreibati offered more details in a blog post:
We know that reaching out to reconnect, ask for advice or network for potential job opportunities can be intimidating. How do you start a conversation with someone you haven?t spoken to in months"
To give you authentic ways to reconnect, we?ve added personalized conversation starters in LinkedIn Messaging to help break the ice. Types of conversation starters include:
Updates on your connections? professional activity: Congratulate your connection if they?ve started a new job or celebrated a work anniversary recently. You can also share your thoughts on an article they?ve recently published on LinkedIn.
Shared experiences: Connect on something you have in common, such as having worked at the same company, joined the same groups or gone to the same school.
Shared connections: Build rapport by mentioning someone who you both know.

With conversation starters, you can spend less time figuring out what to say and more time having conversations that help you get ahead an...