Stories on LinkedIn?

Yes, you read that title correctly.

LinkedIn is planning a Stories functionality comparable to Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook.

And, no, I haven’t been spending too much time trawling the depths of the online rumor mill.

Read the announcement for yourselves from Pete Davies, head of content products at LinkedIn.

Let’s discuss this!

First off, does LinkedIn really need this capability and what will it add to the professional discussions which should be occurring on LinkedIn?

Is this another example of LinkedIn trying to play catch-up with its younger more successful competitors.

(Most people forget that LinkedIn predates Facebook.)

Earlier, I’ve blogged about the “Facebookization” of LinkedIn and the risks associated with it.

I’ve seen trivial trends come and go over the years on LinkedIn.

A while back, it looked like the platform would be overwhelmed by puzzles and games.

Fortunately, these appear to have gone away.

And, we seem to have been spared cat memes but maybe I’m speaking too soon.

(Before everyone jumps all over me, I love cats, I just think Facebook and Instagram are more appropriate forums for them.)

I haven’t seen this new feature of LinkedIn’s yet as it’s still being tested internally.

So, I can’t be too critical, yet.

But, since Pete is comparing the new offering to the other social media channels, I can’t be blamed for getting a little uneasy here.

The state of engagement, IMHO, is not very high currently on LinkedIn.

People develop robust networks of connections, build excellent profiles, and then squander the opportunity to engage with others but saying either nothing or banal platitudes.

And, now, there is a potential new tool to distract them from value added conversations on LinkedIn!

Stay tuned for more about this new “feature” as I continue to learn about it!

I’d love to be proven wrong here.

Closing thought, one beneficial effect of the Microsoft acquisition of LinkedIn seems to be that we are now told about these changes in advance as opposed to back in the day when we’d log in and see some wild new “feature.”

That’s it for now!

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