News Corp. is planning a social networking expansion of its Wall Street Journal website, which will transform the site into a platform intended for more than simply delivering news. Lex Fenwick, CEO of Dow Jones, described the company’s plans during an investor day earlier this week. The focal point of the platform is a feature called WSJ Profile, which allows users to post what is essentially a digital resume and features social functions that could compete with LinkedIn.

“If you build applications and become a platform, it does lots of magical things that help us,” said Fenwick. “It increases the customer stickiness and it means the customer spends longer on the site then he or she previously was. It allows targeted advertising as you start to understand more about your customer, what their interests are and what they may care about.”

“It looks awfully similar to LinkedIn, which is perhaps not surprising given The Wall Street Journal’s business-focused readership,” explains The Next Web. “It’s also worth noting that this isn’t just a revamped account system for avid The Wall Street Journal readers, however. The image [on right, from the slideshow] shows a private messaging service, as well as areas where users can upload their own research, portfolio and blog posts.”

“We will be able to build a network of like-minded people around the world, into a community,” suggested Fenwick, adding that WSJ Profile is expected to launch in the next couple of weeks.

Complete audio coverage with accompanying slides of “Investor Day to Present the New News Corporation” — which includes an introduction by Rupert Murdoch and updates related to news and information services, Australian operations, book publishing and a financial overview — is available online.