LinkedIn has announced that it is rolling out a new design for the business and employment-oriented online service. The new design will feature more messaging features with plans to offer Stories, which lets users post photos and videos that vanish in a day, globally.
LinkedIn for a while has been testing Stories in countries such as Brazil, Australia, France, and the Netherlands. Now the company said it’s launching Stories in the US and Canada but will also roll out the tool globally during the following week. The upcoming global rollout of Stories shows that LinkedIn, like other social networks, is fueling the creation of more video and ephemeral content on its platform.
Snapchat pioneered epheremal content on its app with the release of Stories in 2013. Since then other social networks, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter have created their own versions. Pinterest on Wednesday said it was testing its Stories tool, allowing users to add music, text, and voiceovers to video and photos. Pinterest’s version of Stories, called Story Pins, doesn’t involve content vanishing in 24 hours.
The company said that its members who have testing Stories have used the tool to share photos and videos of their home-office setups, chat about job opportunities and talk about what they’re doing at work or about free-time activities. LinkedIn Stories also asks members a question of the day, such as what they’re working that day or how they recharge on their days off. Members can also add local stickers to Stories.
Liz Li, the director of product management at LinkedIn, said in a video shared with press said, “It provides members with the freedom to share more authentically,”