Technology

LinkedIn targets users stuck between TikTok and what was formerly known as Twitter

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Two weeks ago, TechCrunch broke the news that LinkedIn was getting into gaming, helping users “deepen relationships” through puzzle-based interactions. On Wednesday, TechCrunch reported MicrosoftOne of the company-owned social networks was experimenting with short videos.

It’s as if LinkedIn is targeting a whole new “type” of user – one stuck in limbo somewhere between two established social networks.

Wordle’s viral growth began on Twitter, prompting The New York Times to hand out a seven-figure sum for the online word game. TikTok has surpassed the 1 billion user mark, and recently became the first non-gaming app to reach $10 billion in consumer spending, all on short-form videos.

Defection

Since Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and changed its name to It decreased by about a quarter In the months that followed she became the plaything of one of the world’s richest individuals.

United competitors like Mastodon and Bluesky have scrambled to exchange ideas between former, powerful X users dead He threw his hat into the ring with strings. But this classification has millions jumping listlessly between countless different social networks, not quite sure where they should spend their time.

TikTok can be likened to a next-generation version of Twitter, full of short-form content, influencers, hashtags, and trending topics — an obvious place to jump in some ways, but simply too foreign for many of those who grew up on Twitter.

Like almost every successful social network, Twitter grew organically — a combination of the right people, at the right time, with the right backers and the right technology to make it a scalable product in the hands of millions. It’s not possible to lift this community up and move it to a new platform at the drop of a hat, and the audience fragmentation we saw in the aftermath was inevitable.

A hole the size of Twitter

This is where LinkedIn fills a huge gap in many people’s lives. Sure, we’ve all poked fun at the “professional social network” over the years and ridiculed the self-aggrandizing hustle culture that permeates it. Billion plus community, but we all have LinkedIn accounts and we’ve all turned to them at different times when we’ve needed to, like when we’re looking for a new job or trying to network. It now serves as the obvious alternative when the Bird app falters.

All of this brings us back to LinkedIn’s latest efforts to keep up with the times. Microsoft donated as much as $26 billion to LinkedIn seven years ago, and has been largely quiet about its performance in the years since — however, it has been making noises about its growth rate lately. It revealed that LinkedIn generated $15 billion in its fiscal year 2023, with nearly half of that amount coming from the company’s recruiting programs. A few weeks ago, LinkedIn Premium subscriptions brought in $1.7 billion, he said Last year (number types that Musk can only dream of finishing at X).

the an idea Who was linkedin Something of salvation For the Twitter trenches Nothing new, but we’re starting to see LinkedIn jumping on its potential as something more than most people think. Obviously, LinkedIn can’t completely shed its “business” shackles, and you shouldn’t expect to see Taylor Swift or Ronaldo promoting themselves there anytime soon (fingers crossed), but LinkedIn clearly wants to shed its “stifling social network.” Reputation of the job seeker network.

It doesn’t mean that LinkedIn will see a surge in Gen Z members Looking for a dose of thought leadership delivered through pithy 10-second plays. LinkedIn shouldn’t try to do that He is Twitter or TikTok – it targets a completely different audience. But it could certainly borrow some of their special sauce and appeal to a wider demographic.

While other social networks are abandoning news, and X It is no longer the force it used to be To keep up with global events, LinkedIn It has already benefited from this huge change through further investment. And now with games and short videos in the mix, LinkedIn wants even more excitement.

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