LinkedIn is testing a short-form video feed, following in the footsteps of so many other apps that are trying to be like TikTok.
TikTok, home to over a billion users, has sent social media apps scrambling for years. Instagram, YouTube, and even Netflix have tried to mimic TikTok’s winning formula: the app’s vertical video feed and the way it happens to spark trends and conversations on the daily.
LinkedIn confirmed to TechCrunch that it is playing around with a video feed, which was first spotted by strategy director Austin Null. In a post on LinkedIn itself, Null showed a short demo of the feed, which looks a lot like that of TikTok or Instagram Reels. The vertical feed, currently in beta, appears in the app under a new “Video” tab. The videos are like other LinkedIn posts, which users can like, comment under, or repost.
It is unclear when the feature is rolling out to the wider LinkedIn community. Karina Hsu, a founder and startup builder, also shared the demo on X, writing, “[it] feels like TikTok for work – currently a mix of inspirational podcast clips + current events.”
LinkedIn has grown its own influencer community in recent years, with podcasters, career coaches, and business-owners regularly posting a variety of content on the app and building massive followings. The company told TechCrunch that users are primarily seeking more videos for learning and development purposes. TikTok, a place where more and more young people go to learn, is also home to plenty of career-related content. Now, LinkedIn is hoping to step in by going down the vertical-video path.
On the other hand, the platform has unsuccessfully tried to imitate popular features in the past, like LinkedIn stories — a Snapchat/Instagram facet which didn’t much make sense for a professional network.