Since 2013, when Snapchat released the famous Stories, many applications have decided to copy this idea for themselves and exploit a strategy that has undoubtedly yielded great results, especially to Facebook Inc., with its Stories on Instagram, WhatsApp and, of course, in its main app.
In fact, such is the fame that this publication tool has generated that is eliminated in 24 hours, that even the most “serious” platforms had also entered that world, as is the case with LinkedIn.
The famous social network for employment and professionals had added its own version of the stories in 2020, although since 2018 it had been trying something similar with the remembered “Student Voices”. However, as with Twitter and its failed Fleets, LinkedIn Stories did not have the same effect as on other social networks, especially due to the essence of the same platform and the shock it had with the “soul” of a tool like Stories.
“When developing Stories, we assumed that people would not want informal videos attached to their profile, and that the ephemeral would reduce the barriers that people feel when posting (…) It turns out that you want to create long-lasting videos that tell your professional story in a more personal way and that show both your personality and your experience.”Detailed LinkedIn Senior Product Manager Liz Li.
Taking this into account, the LinkedIn management explained that the creation of Stories within the platform will be permanently suspended from the end of September, and thanked all the users who actively participated with this tool. “The stories provided an easy way for him to share knowledge, ask for help, and react to industry news and updates.”he added.
Likewise, Li gave a brief summary of the learning obtained after his “failure”, assuring that, “one of the things that I love most about my work is the ability to constantly experiment to find new ways to improve your experience on LinkedIn”, therefore that from the mistakes learned with this tool, a new way of developing the video format within the platform could be born without having to depend on the short format of the Stories.
“We introduced Stories last year as a fun, informal way to share quick video updates. We have learned a lot. Now, we’re taking those learnings to turn the Stories format into a reinvented video experience on LinkedIn that’s even richer and more conversational. We want to embrace mixed media and creative Stories tools consistently across our platform, while working to more closely integrate it with your professional identity. “
For this, Li assured that LinkedIn is looking for a way to be able to make more personal content within the social network, without losing the seriousness and professionalism that characterizes them.
According to her, the Stories “test” showed that users “want more creative tools to make engaging videos. With Stories, members can use “Question of the Day” stickers and banners to make videos more creative and engaging. But you want even more ways to fix those videos in a professional context, and you want to do it on LinkedIn.”.
In this way, LinkedIn joins the “club of broken hearts” that failed to bring the Stories model to fruition. Could it be that this tool is only possible on social networks with leisure and fun formats? Is there not a way to raise it in a more professional way that will make the most “serious” public fall in love with social networks?
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