LinkedIn revealed to TechCrunch on Wednesday that it is testing a new short-form video stream similar to TikTok. With this new test, LinkedIn joins a long list of major apps that have launched their own short-form video streams in response to TikTok’s popularity, including Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and Netflix.
LinkedIn’s Latest Experiment: TikTok-Style Video Feed for Professional Content
Austin Null, a strategy director at the influencer agency McKinney, discovered the feed first. Null shared a brief demonstration of the new feed on LinkedIn, which can be seen in the app’s navigation bar under the new “Video” option. When you tap the new Video button, you will be sent to a vertical feed of short movies, which you may swipe through. You can respond to a video by like it, leaving a comment, or sharing it. The corporation does not provide information regarding how the feed selects which films to show users.
The new feature is comparable to the vertical short-form video feeds found in other applications, but whereas other feeds contain a wide range of content from comedy to food videos, LinkedIn’s stream is clearly geared toward professions and professionalism. While it has always been possible to upload films on LinkedIn, the new dedicated feed is intended to increase engagement and discovery on the network by displaying bite-sized videos that users can rapidly skim through.
According to Microsoft-owned LinkedIn, videos are becoming one of its users’ preferred formats for learning from professionals and experts, thus the company is exploring a new way for users to discover relevant videos. Because the function is still in early stages of development, most users will not be able to use it right now.
The new feature’s release comes as many TikTok producers have built significant followings by offering advice and experiences on themes such as career growth, job hunts, and professional development. LinkedIn’s new feed would provide producers with a new platform to share their video material, perhaps reaching a larger audience. LinkedIn may eventually commercialize the stream in order to incentivize producers to upload their video content on the app.
Although the feature opens up new options for producers, some users may not perceive the new feed as a welcome addition to the app, since they may feel overwhelmed by the numerous short-form video streams available on popular apps.
