Over the past few years, the careers platform LinkedIn has attempted to become more creator-friendly. The rise of LinkedIn influencers (LinkedInfluencers?) has been accelerated by features like the ‘Discover’ feed and the ‘Creator Mode’ tool. And now, it looks like the platform is getting its own TikTok-style ‘For You’ short-form video feed.
The news was first broken by creator Austin Null. On the platform, Null enthused, “If anyone knows me, I’ve been saying that if LinkedIn can get video right, it’s over for other platforms.” The screenshot accompanying his post showed a new ‘video’ tab on LinkedIn’s mobile homepage, which, visually, looked very TikTok-y.
In case there was any doubt, LinkedIn later confirmed to TechCrunch that they were indeed testing a vertical video feed. However, it’s in the very early stages.
Pre-empting the (completely valid) criticism, Null continued. “For those saying ‘we don’t need another TikTok’ I would say you’re missing the point, respectfully. This won’t be TikTok because the ethos of [LinkedIn] as a platform is vastly different than TikTok. But the content approach of TikTok should absolutely be implemented here.”
Inherently, there is nothing wrong with this. This isn’t any different from Meta rolling out Instagram Reels or Google rolling out YouTube Shorts. But LinkedIn arguably doesn’t really offer the same kind of diverse topic areas these other platforms do.
While creators on TikTok can try their hand at pretty much any niche out there, LinkedIn creators are arguably restricted to the business/career niche. This move begs the question of whether the business networking platform is deviating too far from its initial purpose. And this bid to keep up in the creator economy arms may not be worth it.
