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Video reigns supreme on social media like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. And now, video is becoming a bigger business for LinkedIn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Microsoft-owned social network for the working world has yet to go full TikTok<\/a>. But with a big boost of usage \u2014 today it said that video uploads jumped by 36% compared to last year, while video creation on the platform itself grew 100% \u2014 LinkedIn is adding in more features to woo more video activity: a new full-screen vertical video display for all users (not just those on mobile), along with a number of new tools to boost viewer engagement.\u00a0<\/p>\n The updates a week after Microsoft reported earnings that disclosed LinkedIn growing revenues by 9%<\/a> in the last year (with premium subscriptions passing $2 billion in revenue).\u00a0<\/p>\n The company now has over 1 billion users, so it\u2019s a sure bet that in its drive to make more money, it will also be leaning into economies of scale around advertising and paid features.\u00a0<\/p>\n Video will inevitably be a major component of that because of the stickiness and popularity of the medium, not just generally on social media but on LinkedIn in particular: last week it disclosed<\/a> that video viewership was up 36% on last year.<\/p>\n The new vertical video feed for web pages is a natural development, given that LinkedIn had already been seeing strong engagement with that format on mobile, where it had first launched<\/a>. As with the mobile experience, the new vertical web experience will allow people to select single videos, and then swipe or click from them to more videos in their feed.<\/p>\n This is not \u2014 yet \u2014 a full-screen player for video a la TikTok or Instagram. We first reported on that test in March 2024, and LinkedIn confirms this remains in test and feedback<\/a> mode.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, it appears LinkedIn is going ahead and rolling out a number of features in aid of that future experience. For example, users will now see a new profile preview feature to see a creator\u2019s profile without leaving the video, with a much more prominent follow button appearing in the interface.\u00a0<\/p>\n LinkedIn is also adding more video content into its search results, with a new video carousel appearing alongside other links. (It will be facinating to see how many opt for these results rather than text-based ones.)<\/p>\n There are also some analytics being developed for creators, who will be able to track average watch times for their content. This is a small step but a signal that we\u2019re likely to see more analytics features emerge in the coming months \u2014 especially if a full video feed makes its way to general release.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n