LinkedIn says 'less is more' as pledges to cut emails

LinkedIn members opening their email inbox with a groan at yet another message from the professional networking site can rest easy.

The firm has pledged to send less frequent and "more relevant" messages after "many" customer complaints.

"Less is more ...we get it," Aatif Awan, senior director of product management, wrote on the firm's blog.

Instead of emailing a member each time they get a connection request, it has now started sending a weekly round-up.

And LinkedIn users who are part of groups, such as professional networks, are now being sent a weekly summary instead of individual emails for each update.

The changes will reduce the number of emails it sends members by 40%, the company said.

Mr Awan said the results so far had been "very encouraging".

"Already, members' complaints have been cut in half. And this is just the beginning," he wrote.

LinkedIn, which started out in the living room of co-founder Reid Hoffman, launched in 2003, and now has more than 350 million members.

Mainly, the site's members use it to find new jobs and make contacts for career purposes.

LinkedIn's move comes ahead of Thursday's second quarter results.