With the wealth of social media platforms out there, it’s hard for different companies to find a niche that differentiates them from one other. One such social networking platform that has found success in establishing its own identity is LinkedIn, which focuses on business networking and making a lot of the posts on it more informative than mere gossip or conversation pieces.
The truth is through that this approach, while great for getting multitudes of professionals to want to promote themselves on the platform, it doesn’t create much conversation and means that people may not stay on it for long intervals or chat frequently with co-professionals. Something the company is wanting to change with the LinkedIn announcing that it is going to be testing more Snapchat-style stories in a new conversation format.
The new stories concept will offer a lighter, more casual way of interacting in the business-focused world that makes up LinkedIn, instead of the formal messaging and posting that makes up the bulk of interactions on the site. According to Pete Davies, LinkedIn’s head of content products, the goal of this change is to meet LinkedIn users “where their voices are” and make the site more relevant to a younger audience.
Technically, this isn’t even LinkedIn’s first time dabbling in the social media story format: as it tested a similar feature called “Student Voices” that let students post videos to a “campus playlist” that lived on top of the LinkedIn app. That didn’t have a broad appeal though and didn’t last long. This new approach may be something that appeals to a wider audience without isolating the professional folk who likes the platforms very professional and formal setting.
These changes are just been tested for now, so it doesn’t mean they will be making their way to the wider platform, but it will be interesting to see if they do release this, how the change is received. After all, it sounds a bit weird for the platform which prides itself in being very different from the rest, trying too much to become like the rest.
Last Updated: February 28, 2020
