It is official and finally here, LinkedIn has rolled out its LinkedIn Stories feature in Brazil.
The stories feature holds the most prominent placement of all CTA elements on the Instagram app and will use the exact same placement on its LinkedIn app. Right at the top of any user‘s app and feed.
LinkedIn might be an a-typical social media network, but they have decided that this product feature is a must-have. The demand for quick bite content, easy to consume that „self-destructs“ within 24 hours, continues to grow.
Snapchat started it
Whereas Snapchat started the stories hype, Instagram by Facebook took it to the next level. It could be said that it was the exact feature Instagram needed to grow to new heights.
Short video messages are an important part of all social media apps at the moment – but the content varies
Even back in 2018, LinkedIn noted that it was planning to roll out Stories to more users – and while it rolled out on student campuses in the USA first, we now know LinkedIn Stories didn’t hit the actual product until 2020.
A quick video format will help make the professional social media network more lively. The big question is how users are going to use the new Stories-Feature on LinkedIn.
Stories are short, punchy, fast and to the point.
LinkedIn Stories – Speed over quality?
What sets professional networks apart from most social content is not only the nature of the posts, but the quality as well. Most posts on LinkedIn are a little longer, well-written and thought through; very different from how Snapchat and Instagram users use stories.
Do stories posts sacrifice content quality over speed? Probably not, but they are generally less „staged,“ and more natural
Whether professional users will start posting more short video content, remains to be seen. The product roll-out in Brazil will tell if it a great addition to the product.
I expect LinkedIn to roll out this feature more quickly than we might think. And those who use LinkedIn as their main source of social media and network communication can start to get their heads around how they would use it.
Will LinkedIn Stories be successful?
We have seen stories „fail“ on both Facebook and WhatsApp (by Facebook, as well). Hence, the developments in Latin America are of great interest to LinkedIn – and users all over the world.
It is unlikely that the feature will not be used at all, though. There are advantages to being late to the party, too.
Users know exactly how stories work. This might be a potential chance or a possible pitfall, though. Expectations are high and we will find out soon enough if they were right to bring „LinkedIn Stories“ into the equation.
Do we need more innovation in social media?
Has social media come to the point where product innovation is so rare that the only way to innovate is to copy the competition? It certainly looks that way.
However, product feature releases come at a high cost if they are not adopted by users. Prime real estate at the top of a users browser/screen is valuable and the feature needs to be well thought out and tested before it can be launched.
LinkedIn did not have to be the first mover to know that a stories feature could work well on its platform, too. Stories have become an intricate part of any social media app. Hence, it was a no-brained for the professional network to roll-out this feature.
But is it enough to keep up with the competition in the long run? Are LinkedIn doing the right thing in becoming more and more like a „standard“ social media network?
