Juan Vicente Gª. Manjón: “LinkedIn is key in monitoring professional trends”
On the occasion of the celebration on June 30 of the Social Media Day, we chatted about LinkedIn with Juan Vicente García Manjón, innovation expert. García Manjón is a professor at the Miguel de Cervantes European University, where he has been vice-rector for Innovation and Business Connection, as well as for the European Space and Employment. Researcher and disseminator specialized in innovation and educational technology, he has been recognized as LinkedIn Top Voice and Favikon Top 200 Creators Spain, he has also been a speaker at TEDx and is the author of the blog jvmanjon.com, where he shares resources and reflections on the use of artificial intelligence in education.
What motivated you to start sharing content on LinkedIn? How do you see its evolution?
I have been using LinkedIn for more than 10 years. At first, my main motivation was to share information and stay up to date in my fields of interest: innovation, education and entrepreneurship. LinkedIn is an excellent tool to find out what's new and what other professionals in the sector are doing. It is a space for continuous learning and real connection with people with similar interests.
I think all social networks are evolving very quickly, especially with the integration of artificial intelligence. There is more and more immediacy, more video content is consumed and the format changes.
LinkedIn in particular will play a key role in access to the first job, in monitoring professional trends and in the continuous training of workers.
What content generates the most interaction and why do you think your audience is so interested in it?
At this time, my community has grown to almost 18,000 followers. The content that generates the most interaction is that which provides direct value, such as practical tools, accessible resources or small learning pills. People are interested in what they can apply in their daily lives, what helps them learn something new or solve a problem.
How do you manage interaction with your followers, especially when you receive a high volume of comments and messages?
I always try to do it with respect and professionalism. At the end of the day, they are professionals like me, people who are learning, sharing and collaborating. I respond to everyone, even if it takes me time, and I try to maintain a tone of equality and exchange of ideas between colleagues.
In addition to LinkedIn, do you use other social networks and/or complementary digital tools such as newsletters, blogs or automation?
I mainly use my blog. I find it very useful to generate teaching content and share materials with my students. I use the rest of the social networks very occasionally. I am focused on LinkedIn and the blog because it is where my community is and where I can add the most value.
Based on your experience, what advice would you give to young entrepreneurs who want to position themselves on LinkedIn?
My advice would be to work very well on your positioning, your value proposition and what you want to communicate. LinkedIn is not a platform to sell directly, but to share your vision, tell about your project, explain what you do and what ideas you have for the future.
The goal is to generate community, not sell products.
How has artificial intelligence changed the way you work as a teacher and on LinkedIn?
Above all, it allows me to generate and analyze content faster. Although I personally write all the posts I publish, AI helps me process information, generate ideas or identify trends. At the teaching level, it has been a huge change, since we can now create interactive content, personalize learning or generate audio and video resources in a simple way, things that were much more difficult or expensive before.
If you could give a single message about the value of using LinkedIn, what would it be?
I would say that it is an essential professional network to gain visibility, generate opportunities and, above all, continuously learn in contact with other professionals.
