• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, March 28, 2024

Short-form video has hit the LinkedIn feed, following platforms like YouTube and TikTok in an effort to reach consumers and business professionals.

The video format displays content in a TikTok-style, full-screen format, leaning into the broader vertical video trend.

Austin Null, a strategy director at the agency McKinney, first noted the feed and posted a demo on LinkedIn showing how it works. It lives in the app’s navigation bar in a new “Video” tab, according to TechCrunch.

Tapping on the video button provides entrance into the vertical feed of short videos that users can swipe through. The feature allows users to make a video, leave a comment, and share it with others.

LinkedIn’s feed is focused on careers and professions, rather than consumer-related content such as clothing and cooking. The feed is intended to boost engagement, search and discovery on the platform by presenting short videos that people can scroll through.

“With the rise of AI, creating written content has become mainstream [and it] has flooded the platform,” wrote Gabriele Romagnoli, tech ambassador and speaker in the Netherlands. “Video is (and will remain for a while) a much richer and authentic communication medium.”

He added that it is especially the case for niche technology topics. Video provides an opportunity to teach and show how things work, which is often nearly impossible to do in written form.

That is what has made YouTube appealing to consumers. The videos, no matter how short, show consumers how to do things, such as how to change a tire, how to unclog a sink, how to match a specific style of pants with a shirt and much more. 

There's no doubt that LinkedIn will build a creator network similar to TikTok and YouTube -- as well as ad analytics to support targeting -- taking the lead from its parent company, Microsoft, and how it built a software and app empire where developers can earn revenue.

YouTube's network helps creators earn revenue from Shorts. In a post on Thursday, YouTube explained how creators’ passions are paying off, with more than 25% of channels in the YouTube Partner Program earning through this revenue stream.

YouTube now sees creators who joined YPP by meeting Shorts eligibility. More than 80% are now also earning through other YPP monetization features on YouTube, from long-form advertising to fan funding, YouTube Premium, to BrandConnect, Shopping and more.

Shorts attracts creators by opening the door for them to earn revenue in other ways on the platform. And it's starting to pay off.

YouTube today, according to the post, is the only platform that gives creators the option to upload content across different formats -- Shorts, VOD, Live, Podcast and Audio -- and earn money from multiple revenue streams.

YouTube has also expanded its audience retention analytics tools to offer creators deeper insights into viewer behavior. This expansion adds audience segments to the audience retention report in YouTube Studio video analytics.

Creators will have an option to use this feature to compare viewer engagement of different audience groups, including new and returning viewers, and subscribed versus non-subscribed viewers.

Will LinkedIn be next in building out a creator network?