The mentions feature has been made popular by Twitter. It has become one of the most widely used ways for striking up conversations online. LinkedIn, a network focused towards professionals, brings mentions for its users in a bid to make it easier for them to start conversations. Dubbing it a new way for users to engage with their network, LinkedIn says that mentions make it easier for users to share knowledge with each other and ultimately become better at what they do. They now have the ability to mention their connections and companies in conversations on the network.
It is pretty straight forward to use mentions on LinkedIn. Simply type the name of a company or connection that you want to mention in your status or in a comment on the Homepage, select the relevant connection from the list that drops down and proceed to share. Those who have been mentioned in the update will receive a notification about the mention. It is also possible to mention other LinkedIn members that are in conversation in the comments section of posts on the LinkedIn Homepage. Users will be able to respond in real-time when someone begins a conversation with them. Today LinkedIn starts rolling out mentions for English speaking members, promising that it will be rolled out to users all across the globe soon.