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LinkedIn is the Twitter/X rival no one is talking about | TechCrunch

May 1, 2024 8:37 PM0


Since Elon Musk acquired Twitter in the fall of 2022, the market for Twitter alternatives has been saturated with would-be competitors ranging from smaller startups to open source apps to well-funded efforts like Threads from Instagram. But there’s one overlooked Twitter/X alternative that’s been growing right under our collective noses: LinkedIn. As of March, LinkedIn’s web traffic was up 10.6% year-over-year compared with a decline of 15.2% for X, according to traffic analytics data from digital intelligence platform SimilarWeb.

Compared with November 2022 — or right after Musk took over Twitter — X’s web traffic has declined by 10%, while LinkedIn’s has grown 18%.

In March, Twitter/X saw 727.6 million (deduplicated) unique visitors worldwide, a decline of 7.5% year-over-year. LinkedIn had a much smaller total — 269.2 million — but that figure was up 11.1% year-over-year, Similarweb said.

In addition, the firm found that worldwide Android app usage of LinkedIn was up 14% since November 2022 as of March, while X had dropped by 20%.

Another source for app data, Appfigures, doesn’t see the same trend playing out across mobile, however. Its data indicates that LinkedIn’s monthly downloads were up 10% year-over-year, while X’s were down by 24% — but Appfigures attributes this decline to the rebranding of Twitter to X, not other consumer behavior. LinkedIn’s average downloads have stayed consistent before and after the Musk Twitter takeover, the firm said.

Still, given that people work at their desktops and laptops during the day, it makes sense that some business professionals could have shifted a portion of their web usage of X over to LinkedIn as a result of Twitter’s transition.

Now, with features like games (launched today) and short-form videos coming to LinkedIn, it’s clear that the social network’s owner, Microsoft, is hoping to capture the attention and interest of those users who used to network via Twitter — and particularly the younger Gen Z crowd.

The strategy appears to be working. As Appfigures also points out, LinkedIn’s mobile app is earning more than X and Snapchat combined across both iOS and Android.

That’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, given that LinkedIn’s subscriptions are higher priced, starting at $29.99/month and going up to as much as $69.99/month on the app stores. X’s monthly subscriptions instead range from $4 to $22, though users can opt to pay for higher-priced annual subscriptions, as well. Snapchat Plus, meanwhile, is only $3.99 per month or $29.99 per year.

Image Credits: Appfigures

In other words, LinkedIn doesn’t have to sell as many subscriptions to boost its revenue — and it hasn’t had trouble outcompeting X or Snapchat on mobile before.

However, Appfigures notes that LinkedIn’s mobile app revenue has been rapidly growing from $20 million in Q1 2021 to $91 million in Q1 2023. It has now hit its biggest quarter ever, at $119 million in app revenue as of Q1 2024.

By comparison, X and Snapchat saw $23 million and $67 million, respectively, in the first quarter, totaling $90 million combined — or lower than LinkedIn.

LinkedIn launches gaming: 3 logic puzzles aimed at extending time spent on its networking platform


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LinkedIn launches gaming: 3 logic puzzles aimed at extending time spent on its networking platform | TechCrunch

May 1, 2024 8:11 PM0


Back in March, TechCrunch broke the news that LinkedIn was quietly testing the waters for games on its platform — word and logic puzzles similar to Wordle. Now, in an effort to attract more users and increase engagement, the platform is launching three of those games officially.

Queens, Crossclimb and Pinpoint — respectively testing your abilities in logic, trivia and word association — will be available globally starting today, both via a direct link to the games and by way of LinkedIn News, the division that developed them.

Similar to Wordle, each of these games can be played just once a day. For now, you can invite your first-degree connections to play a game together, and your status — whether or not you’ve played a game, and how well you fared — can be shared with those connections if you opt in.

Those social levers, as well as the number of games, are still up for discussion, so things might change over time. For now, LinkedIn plans to continue developing the games itself, independent of its owner, Microsoft, and its substantial gaming operation.

LinkedIn says that it sees the games as a more casual way to knit existing LinkedIn connections closer together.

“It is hard for people to stay in touch with each other, and games provide a way to build these network ties,” said Dan Roth, the VP and editor in chief of LinkedIn News, in an interview.

There is more to it than that, though. The fact that these were conceived of and built by the LinkedIn News team is significant. LinkedIn’s games borrow heavily from the portfolios that newspapers like The New York Times have built with their own word and logic games over the years, starting with crosswords and more recently expanding into a wider range of puzzles. Most of these were built in-house, but some were acquired (NYT acquired the viral hit Wordle in 2022).

And, games have proven to be somewhat of a secret weapon for driving engagement, especially at a time when news publishers are scrambling to figure out what the future of their businesses look like, and TikTok and Instagram appear to be cornering the market for younger users.

Puzzles published by news titles and magazines attract millions of users, who in turn become part of those titles’ wider audiences, and potentially can turn into readers of the rest of their content.

Similarly, LinkedIn, with more than 1 billion users, has been developing its news and content operation to expand engagement on its platform. Like newspapers, it also has a substantial advertising business as well as paywalls for those who want to use it a bit more. Games sweeten the deal for extending that engagement to beef up its advertising audience, and to potentially give more value to users.

A little about the three games:

Image Credits: LinkedIn.com (opens in a new window) under a license.

Queens is a riff on Sudoku, and you have to figure out how to arrange crowns in patterns that do not overlap with each other within a time limit. As you can see from the screenshot, you can share scores with individuals, but your company affiliation appears on a leaderboard.

I asked if this could become problematic or distracting, given the restrictions some organizations put on using social media at work. Laura Lorenzetti, executive editor for LinkedIn in North America, said the one-game-per-day limitation, and the fact that the games are short, should help with those issues.

“They are contained and they’re intended to be contained, because we don’t want people wasting their time,” she said. “That is not what we’re here for!”

Image Credits: LinkedIn.com (opens in a new window) under a license.

Crossclimb is described as a trivia game. The player is given clues for words, which in turn have to fit on a grid where the words change by one letter with each subsequent clue to eventually form a different word.

I found this one to be harder than it looks if you don’t guess the first word for a start. (Another player countered that it was her favorite.) As with Queens, you see a company leaderboard here, too.

Image Credits: LinkedIn.com (opens in a new window) under a license.

Lastly we have Pinpoint, which seemed so similar to Connections — the New York Times game — that I kept slipping up and calling it “Connections” during my interview. The game involves finding a connection between words that you’re given, although the words are not immediately revealed, and you are asked to try to find the connection in as few reveals as possible. I found this also quite difficult in my early attempts.

As we’ve noted previously, LinkedIn is far from being the first social network to bake gaming into the platform to increase how much time its users spend using it. But even the biggest and most expensive efforts have seen mixed results. Facebook, the world’s biggest social network, has been a major driver of social gaming over the years, but in 2022, it shut down its standalone gaming app amid a decline in usage. It’s putting significantly more focus these days on mixed reality experiences and its Meta Quest business.

LinkedIn — designed for professional networking and specifically for job hunting and recruitment — has long been trying to find ways to get people to engage on its platform in more natural and less transactional ways. Games are transactional by nature, but the transactions are based on gameplay: If LinkedIn can get users hooked on these, the hope is that they may stay for more.


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Robotic Automations

Is TikTok getting banned? Not yet, but you should explore alternatives | TechCrunch

April 26, 2024 5:39 AM0


As a TikTok ban gets closer to becoming a reality in the United States, it might be time to start thinking about other platforms to adopt early in case you need to fill the void left by the popular app at some point in the future.

On Wednesday, President Biden signed a bill that would ban TikTok if its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, fails to sell the app within a year, bringing the possibility of TikTok ban closer than ever before. However, given the one-year timeline, TikTok isn’t going to vanish immediately, especially since the company has vowed to fight the bill in court.

China is also expected to block a sale because the Chinese government would need to approve the transfer of the app’s algorithms. And if ByteDance does sell TikTok, it would likely be without the app’s algorithms, which means that if TikTok does avoid a ban, there’s a possibility that the app might look different from what millions of Americans have become accustomed to.

Given all of these scenarios, it’s not too early to start considering other platforms. While there’s no 1:1 TikTok replacement, there are some viable options to consider that offer a similar experience. Many companies have spent the last few years building out TikTok clones within their own products, and some of them are worth considering.

Instagram Reels

Image Credits: Meta

Instagram’s Reels product is arguably the most popular TikTok clone, and with good reason. Many of the videos are the same, as creators often share the same content that they post on TikTok to Instagram Reels. Plus, a lot of the trending sounds and topics on TikTok eventually make their way over to Instagram Reels. Because a lot of the content is the same, Instagram Reels might be the best option for a TikTok alternative.

However, given that TikTok’s algorithm is largely unmatched, Instagram Reels might not be able to surface videos you’re interested in on the same level that TikTok can. But Instagram has been enhancing the Reels recommendation algorithm, so we can probably expect it to get better over time.

If you’re someone who uses TikTok as a sort of search engine to find places to explore or eat around you, Reels might be the best alternative for you because the feed features a “Nearby” tab that surfaces content related to your geographic location.

If a TikTok ban becomes a reality, Instagram Reels will likely become the most popular home for short-form video content because it already largely dominates the social media landscape, which is why you might want to check it out and get used to it if you haven’t already.

YouTube Shorts

Image Credits: YouTube

YouTube is another platform that has been building out a TikTok-like product. YouTube Shorts might be the best TikTok alternative for you if you’re someone who likes to find new music on TikTok, given that YouTube Shorts has access to YouTube’s vast library of songs and music videos, something that TikTok no longer has due to its spat with Universal Music Group.

YouTube Shorts also has an advantage that other services on this list don’t, which is an integration with a popular long-form video content platform. Millions of people around the world already go to YouTube every day to watch content, so if TikTok were to get banned, YouTube has the potential to become the go-to place for short-form content as well, especially if popular TikTok creators choose it as the new home of their content.

Unfortunately, the content on YouTube Shorts often isn’t as engaging as it can be on platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels, as it sometimes features content that has been reposted from longer YouTube videos. Still, you could search for content that you want to see and find videos based on hashtags or keywords.

Snapchat Spotlight

Image Credits: Snapchat

Snapchat’s Spotlight feed is another viable TikTok alternative if you’re looking for short and entertaining content. Unlike TikTok and Instagram Reels, Spotlight generally only surfaces funny and lighthearted videos. You likely won’t find political or news content on the feed, which could be a selling point for some users.

Spotlight features a trending section where you can watch popular videos based on different topics and songs that are having a moment. Similar to TikTok and Instagram Reels, you can search for content based on keywords and hashtags.

However, one of the biggest cons when it comes to Snapchat Spotlight is that it has struggled to go beyond its younger users. Given that adults are more likely to use a platform like TikTok or Instagram Reels, you might not find the content on Spotlight as engaging because it mostly caters to younger audiences.

Unfortunately, the comments section on Spotlight videos isn’t as great as it is on platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels, where sometimes the top comments can be more entertaining than the video itself.

Fanbase

Image Credits: Fanbase

Fanbase is a subscription-based social network that is essentially a combination of TikTok, Instagram, Patreon, Clubhouse, and Snapchat. The app features short-form videos, images, long-form videos, Stories, livestreams, and audio rooms. While the app is free to use, you can pay a subscription to get access to exclusive content.

What makes Fanbase a possible alternative to TikTok is the app’s “Flickz” feed. Like TikTok, Flickz includes a feed for discovery and another feed dedicated to content from creators you follow. You can find all sorts of content on Fanbase, including videos on sports, cooking, music, humor, and more.

The app was founded with the mission of valuing and platforming Black creators, whose content is often appropriated or undervalued on traditional social media platforms. Fanbase is an ad-free platform that promises to never shadowban or suppress content.

Zigazoo

Image Credits: Zigazoo

Zigazoo is a relatively new short-form video platform aimed at young users and could be a good TikTok alternative for kids and teens. The app features lighthearted and playful videos and is considered a safer alternative to TikTok, as it doesn’t have a comments feature and has strict moderation policies.

The app lets users browse through or create short videos based on challenges or educational prompts. Zigazoo also features fun dancing videos, which is one of TikTok’s most popular content categories. Like TikTok and Instagram Reels, the app includes different effects, sounds, and filters for video.

The platform is poised for success, as it has raised a total of $20 million from notable investors like Jimmy Kimmel, Serena Williams, TikTok stars Charli and Dixie D’Amelio, and the NBA.

While the app isn’t a TikTok replacement for adults, it’s a great alternative for younger users, especially those with parents who are concerned about TikTok’s potential harm to kids and teens.

Reddit

Image Credits: stockcam / Getty Images

Reddit might not be the first platform you think of when considering TikTok alternatives, but the app’s video feed is worth checking out, especially if you already frequent the app. The platform offers a video feed that features popular short-form content that you can swipe through. There’s also a comment section that you can access by swiping up.

It’s worth noting that the content in the feed is somewhat different from the videos you see on TikTok. While TikTok often shows you content directly from creators, Reddit’s video feed often surfaces reposted viral videos that people have been discussing.

If you’re someone who mainly goes to TikTok for viral, funny videos, then Reddit’s video feed might be a good place for you to get your short-form video fix.

LinkedIn

Image Credits: Nikolas Kokovlis / NurPhoto / Getty Images

You might be wondering why LinkedIn is on this list, but hear me out. TechCrunch reported last month that LinkedIn is testing a new TikTok-like video feed in its app. The feed features content about news events, politics, career growth, office humor, professionalism, and more. If you’re someone whose TikTok “For You” feed often includes content like this, then LinkedIn’s TikTok clone could be a viable alternative for you.

Since the feed is still pretty new, LinkedIn has the potential to build out a viable TikTok alternative for adults. There’s already chatter about how LinkedIn has been able to compete with X (following the chaos after Musk purchased it), so there’s potential for LinkedIn to take on TikTok as well. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Vine

Image Credits: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto / Getty Images

Now, before you get too excited, no, Vine isn’t back.

However, X owner Elon Musk has teased the return of Vine since he purchased the social network formerly known as Twitter. On one occasion, Elon asked his followers if he should bring back Vine. In another instance, he responded “Very well” to a tweet calling for the return of Vine.

As a refresher: Vine was incredibly popular in the early- to mid-2010s but was shut down in 2017 after Twitter purchased it. The move was quite controversial, and since then, many popular Vine creators have moved to TikTok or YouTube.

If TikTok were to get banned, it would make sense for Musk and X Corp to bring back Vine and capitalize on the loss of TikTok. Given that Vine is largely credited for the emergence of short-form videos, the app would have the potential to make a great comeback.

Of course, there’s the question of whether the app would stick to its original seven-second limit. It’s been years since Vine popularized the short-form video format, and people’s appetites for content have gone beyond seven seconds, as TikTok and Instagram Reels let you post longer videos. Regardless of what a relaunch would look like, I think it’s safe to say that people would be interested, especially if TikTok was no longer a player in the short-form video market.




Software Development in Sri Lanka

Robotic Automations

Is TikTok getting banned? Not yet, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't explore alternatives | TechCrunch

April 26, 2024 12:44 AM0


As a TikTok ban gets closer to becoming a reality in the United States, it might be time to start thinking about other platforms to adopt early in case you’re left to fill the void left by the popular app at some point in the future.

On Wednesday, President Biden signed a bill that would ban TikTok if its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, fails to sell the app within a year, bringing the possibility of TikTok ban closer than ever before. However, given the one-year timeline, TikTok isn’t going to vanish immediately, especially since the company has vowed to fight the bill in court.

China is also expected to block a sale because the Chinese government would need to approve the transfer of the app’s algorithms. And if ByteDance does sell TikTok, it would likely be without the app’s algorithms, which means that if TikTok does avoid a ban, there’s a possibility that the app might look different from what millions of Americans have become accustomed to.

Given all of these scenarios, it’s not too early to start considering other platforms. While there’s no 1:1 TikTok replacement, there are some viable options to consider that offer a similar experience. Many companies have spent the last few years building out TikTok clones within their own products, and some of them are worth considering.

Instagram Reels

Image Credits: Meta

Instagram’s Reels product is arguably the most popular TikTok clone, and with good reason. Many of the videos are the same, as creators often share the same content that they post on TikTok to Instagram Reels. Plus, a lot of the trending sounds and topics on TikTok eventually make their way over to Instagram Reels. Because a lot of the content is the same, Instagram Reels might be the best option for a TikTok alternative.

However, given that TikTok’s algorithm is largely unmatched, Instagram Reels might not be able to surface videos you’re interested in on the same level that TikTok can. But, Instagram has been enhancing the Reels recommendation algorithm, so we can probably expect it to get better overtime.

If you’re someone who uses TikTok as a sort of search engine to find places to explore or eat around you, Reels might be the best alternative for you because the feed features a “Nearby” tab that surfaces content related to your geographic location.

If a TikTok ban becomes a reality, Instagram Reels will likely become the most popular home for short-form video content because it already largely dominates the social media landscape, which is why you might want to check it out and get used to it if you haven’t already.

YouTube Shorts

Image Credits: YouTube

YouTube is another platform that has been building out a TikTok-like product. YouTube Shorts might be the best TikTok alternative for you if you’re someone who likes to find new music on TikTok, given that YouTube Shorts has access to YouTube’s vast library of songs and music videos, something that TikTok no longer has due to its spat with Universal Music Group.

YouTube Shorts also has an advantage that other services on this list don’t, which is an integration with a popular long-form video content platform. Millions of people around the world already go to YouTube every day to watch content, so if TikTok were to get banned, YouTube has the potential to become the go-to place for short-form content as well, especially if popular TikTok creators choose it as the new home of their content.

Unfortunately, the content on YouTube Shorts often isn’t as engaging as it can be on platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels, as it sometimes features content that has been reposted from longer YouTube videos. Still, you could search for content that you want to see and find videos based on hashtags or keywords.

Snapchat Spotlight

Image Credits: Snapchat

Snapchat’s Spotlight feed is another viable TikTok alternative if you’re looking for short and entertaining content. Unlike TikTok and Instagram Reels, Spotlight generally only surfaces funny and lighthearted videos. You likely won’t find political or news content on the feed, which could be a selling point for some users.

Spotlight features a trending section where you can watch popular videos based on different topics and songs that are having a moment. Similar to TikTok and Instagram Reels, you can search for content based on keywords and hashtags.

However, one of the biggest cons when it comes to Snapchat Spotlight is that it has struggled to go beyond its younger users. Given that adults are more likely to use a platform like TikTok or Instagram Reels, you might not find the content on Spotlight as engaging because it mostly caters to younger audiences.

Unfortunately, the comments section on Spotlight videos isn’t as great as it is on platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels, where sometimes the top comments can be more entertaining than the video itself.

Fanbase

Image Credits: Fanbase

Fanbase is a subscription-based social network that is essentially a combination of TikTok, Instagram, Patreon, Clubhouse, and Snapchat. The app features short-form videos, images, long-form videos, Stories, livestreams, and audio rooms. While the app is free-to-use you can pay a subscription to get access to exclusive content.

What makes Fanbase a possible alternative to TikTok is the app’s “Flickz” feed. Like TikTok, Flickz includes a feed for discovery and another feed dedicated to content from creators you follow. You can find all sorts of content on Fanbase, including videos on sports, cooking, music, humor, and more.

The app was founded with the mission of valuing and platforming Black creators, whose content is often appropriated or undervalued on traditional social media platforms. Fanbase is an ad-free platform that promises to never shadowban or suppress content.

Zigazoo

Image Credits: Zigazoo

Zigazoo is a relatively new short-form video platform aimed at young users and could be a good TikTok alternative for kids and teens. The app features lighthearted and playful videos and is considered a safer alternative to TikTok, as it doesn’t have a comments feature and has strict moderation policies.

The app lets users browse through or create short videos based on challenges or educational prompts. Zigazoo also features fun dancing videos, which is one of TikTok’s most popular content categories. Like TikTok and Instagram Reels, the app includes different effects, sounds, and filters for video.

The platform is poised for success, as it has raised a total of $20 million from notable investors like Jimmy Kimmel, Serena Williams, TikTok stars Charli and Dixie D’Amelio, and the NBA.

While the app isn’t a TikTok replacement for adults, it’s a great alternative for younger users, especially those with parents who are concerned about TikTok’s potential harm to kids and teens.

Reddit

London, UK – July 31, 2018: The buttons of the app Reddit, surrounded by Pinterest, Whatsapp, and other apps on the screen of an iPhone.

Reddit might not be the first platform you think of when considering TikTok alternatives, but the app’s video feed is worth checking out, especially if you already frequent the app. The platform offers a video feed that features popular short-form content that you can swipe through. There’s also a comment section that you can access by swiping up.

It’s worth noting that the content in the feed is somewhat different from the videos you see on TikTok. While TikTok often shows you content directly from creators, Reddit’s video feed often surfaces reposted viral videos that people have been discussing.

If you’re someone who mainly goes to TikTok for viral, funny videos, then Reddit’s video feed might be a good place for you to get your short-form video fix.

LinkedIn

Image Credits: Nikolas Kokovlis / NurPhoto / Getty Images

You might be wondering why LinkedIn is on this list, but hear me out. TechCrunch reported last month that LinkedIn is testing a new TikTok-like video feed in its app. The feed features content about news events, politics, career growth, office humor, professionalism, and more. If you’re someone whose TikTok ‘For You’ feed often includes content like this, then LinkedIn’s TikTok clone could be a viable alternative for you.

Since the feed is still pretty new, LinkedIn has the potential to build out a viable TikTok alternative for adults. There’s already chatter about how LinkedIn has been able to compete with X (following the chaos after Musk purchased it), so there’s potential for LinkedIn to take on TikTok as well. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Vine

Image Credits: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto / Getty Images

Now before you get too excited, no, Vine isn’t back.

However, X owner Elon Musk has teased the return of Vine since he purchased the social network formerly known as Twitter. On one occasion, Elon asked his followers if he should bring back Vine. In another instance, he responded “Very well” to a tweet calling for the return of Vine.

As a refresher: Vine was incredibly popular in the early-to-mid 2010s, but was shut down in 2017 after Twitter purchased it. The move was quite controversial, and since then, many popular Vine creators have moved to TikTok or YouTube.

If TikTok were to get banned, it would make sense for Musk and X Corp to bring back Vine and capitalize on the loss of TikTok. Given that Vine is largely credited for the emergence of short-form videos, the app would have the potential to make a great comeback.

Of course, there’s the question of whether the app would stick to its original 7-second limit. It’s been years since Vine popularized the short-form video format, and people’s appetites for content have gone beyond 7 seconds, as TikTok and Instagram Reels let you post longer videos. Regardless of what a relaunch would look like, I think it’s safe to say that people would be interested, especially if TikTok was no longer a player in the short-form video market.




Software Development in Sri Lanka

Robotic Automations

LinkedIn tests Premium Company Pages, with AI and marketing tools to grow audiences | TechCrunch

April 17, 2024 5:51 PM0


LinkedIn — the social platform that targets the working world — has quietly started testing another way to boost its revenues, this time with a new service for small and medium businesses. TechCrunch has learned and confirmed that it is working on a new LinkedIn Premium Company Page subscription, which — for fees that appear to be as steep as $99/month — will include AI to write content and new tools to grow follower counts, among other features to raise the profiles of the company using them.

The move is significant because it underscores how Microsoft-owned LinkedIn continues to diversify its business model — while also trying to make itself more useful overall. LinkedIn has for years been the butt of many a joke about how it can feel like a cesspool of shameless self-promotion, or (cue nervous laughter) creepy when you realise the amount of data it can gather about what you do on there.

But as others have pointed out, LinkedIn has a prime opportunity right now. With so many changes underfoot on other social platforms and search engines — where advertising and other algorithms dictate what users discover, and disinformation runs riot — LinkedIn has been looking to carve out a safer space, a place to have a social profile of record for the professionals and prosumers out there.

LinkedIn quietly started to post information describing its new Premium Company Page six days ago. The posts got almost no notice, but we stumbled on it ourselves, and it seems a marketing consultant did, too. Now, LinkedIn has confirmed the details to TechCrunch.

“We’re always exploring new ways to enhance our customers’ experience and assist them in achieving their business goals. Currently, we’re testing a new offering with small-to-medium business customers, called Premium Company Page, which is designed to help them attract customers, build credibility, and stand out to their audience. We look forward to sharing more soon,” said Suzi Owens, senior director of communications at LinkedIn, in a statement.

Pricing for premium company pages is not immediately disclosed, but it appears admins of pages that are eligible for it can see it. This marketing consultant notes that the fees start at $99.99 per month per Page, reducing to $839.88 per Page for an annual subscription.

This new premium company page is the latest in a growing list of premium offerings that LinkedIn has crafted for organizations on the platform, mirroring the different usage and pricing tiers that it has built out for individuals and recruiters using the platform.

Other business-focused tiers include Premium Career for people on the job hunt, Premium Business for business intelligence, Sales Navigator for sales teams, Recruiter tiers for sourcing and hiring talent and LinkedIn Learning for professional development.

Taken together, Premium services are very big business for the company. In March, the company announced that Premium user subscriptions grew 25% year-on-year to $1.7 billion in 2023. Overall, the company made $15 billion that year, with its recruiting business accounting for $7 billion of that.

The Premium Company Page subscription in some ways will look very familiar, in that it taps into well-known LinkedIn mechanics.

Admins for the pages can review recent visitors — if those visitors have not turned off the privacy setting, that is. (Public service reminder: it’s on by default.) This can be used to subsequently invite those visitors to follow the page, regardless of their degree of connection (that previously would have been impossible to do for casual visitors who are not already connected within one degree of the company). Admins can also create “call to action” buttons with contact or website details displayed prominently at the top of the Page. Testimonials, which LinkedIn has really promoted as a feature on profile pages for individuals, also get a push here: admins can display these prominently at the top of their premium pages.

The AI writing help, meanwhile, becomes one of the latest ways that LinkedIn is weaving more AI assistance into the platform, something it started to introduce last year, tapping Microsoft’s ties to OpenAI.

Last but not least, with LinkedIn big on verification lately, and here too a Page can get a golden badge with a premium subscription.


Software Development in Sri Lanka

Robotic Automations

LinkedIn targets users caught between TikTok and what used to be Twitter | TechCrunch

April 13, 2024 11:31 AM0


Two weeks ago, TechCrunch broke the news that LinkedIn was getting into games, helping users “deepen relationships” through puzzle-based interactions. And on Wednesday, TechCrunch reported that the Microsoft-owned social network was experimenting with short-form videos.

It’s as if LinkedIn is targeting a whole new “type” of user — one caught in limbo somewhere between two other well-known social networks.

Wordle’s viral growth kicked off on Twitter, leading The New York Times to dole out a reported seven-figure sum for the web-based word game. And TikTok is well past the billion-user mark, recently becoming the first non-game app to hit $10 billion in consumer spending, all for short-form video.

Splintering

Ever since Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and changed its name to X, things haven’t quite been the same — latest figures suggest that in the U.S. alone, daily users of the app formerly known as Twitter have fallen by nearly a quarter in the months since becoming a plaything for one of the world’s wealthiest individuals.

Federated competitors like Mastodon and Bluesky have jostled for mindshare among ex-X users, and the mighty Meta has thrown its hat into the ring with Threads. But this disaggregation has left millions jumping half-heartedly between myriad different social networks, not quite sure where they should be hanging out.

TikTok can be likened to a next-gen version of Twitter, replete with short-form content, influencers, hashtags and trending topics — an obvious place to jump in some regards, but it’s simply too alien for many of those that grew up on Twitter.

Like just about 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-and-shift that community onto a new platform at the drop of a hat, and the audience splintering we’ve seen in the aftermath was inevitable.

Twitter-sized hole

This is where LinkedIn is filling a giant hole in many people’s lives. Sure, we’ve all mocked the “professional social network” through the years and scoffed at the self-aggrandizing hustle culture that permeates the billion-plus community, but we’ve all got LinkedIn accounts and we’ve all turned to it at various times when we needed to, like when we’re looking for a new job or trying to network. And now it is serving as the obvious fallback as the bird app flounders.

This all takes us back to LinkedIn’s latest efforts to move with the times. Microsoft doled out north of $26 billion for LinkedIn seven years ago, and it has largely been quiet about its performance in the years since — however, it has been making sounds about its growth rate of late. It revealed that LinkedIn made $15 billion for its 2023 fiscal year, with almost half of that coming from corporate recruitment software. And a few weeks back, LinkedIn said that premium subscriptions brought in $1.7 billion last year (the kinds of numbers that Musk can only dream of over at X).

The notion that LinkedIn has been something of a salvation for Twitter-ditchers is nothing new, but we’re starting to see LinkedIn jump on its latent potential as something more than what most people think it is. Obviously LinkedIn can’t shake off its “business” shackles completely, and you shouldn’t expect to see Taylor Swift or Ronaldo promoting themselves on there any time soon (fingers crossed), but it’s clear that LinkedIn wants to ditch its “stuffy social network for jobseekers” reputation.

This isn’t to say that LinkedIn will see a surge of Gen Zers looking for a dose of thought-leadership delivered via pithy 10-second skits. And LinkedIn shouldn’t try to be Twitter or TikTok — it’s aimed at an entirely different audience. But it can certainly borrow some of their special sauce and appeal to a broader demographic.

As other social networks abandon news, and X no longer the force it once was for keeping on top of global events, LinkedIn was already capitalizing on this sea-change with more investment. And now with games and short-form videos in the mix, LinkedIn wants even more of the action.


Software Development in Sri Lanka

Robotic Automations

Indeed announces AI-powered work experience writer and support for multiple resumes | TechCrunch

April 12, 2024 9:53 PM0


Hiring portal Indeed has redesigned the profile page for users, allowing individuals to use an AI-powered writer to fill up work experience, and also added support for multiple resumes. The company has also launched a set of smart sourcing suites for recruiters with features like AI-powered candidate summaries and custom messages.

Recruit Holdings-owned Indeed is revamping its profile page and adding AI-aided features to better compete with rivals like LinkedIn, Talent.com and ZipRecruiter. The new AI-powered work experience writer helps people form better descriptions of different projects.

The company is also adding support for saving up to five resumes so that an individual can easily pick the most relevant copy when applying for different kinds of roles. Both the features will roll out soon, Indeed said.

Image Credits: Indeed

The job seeking portal already had a toggle to make a user’s profile visible to recruiters. But now the company is turning it on by default and making it easily accessible on the settings page.

On the other side, the company is releasing a smart sourcing suite for recruiters to reduce what they are calling “irrelevant outreach” — when employers reach out to candidates that don’t match the job profile. Apart from advanced search filters, companies can also access AI-powered candidate summaries.

Image Credits: Indeed

Indeed is also adding AI-powered smart messaging and automated interview scheduling. The AI-assisted messaging tool enables hiring managers to create or modify communication with job seekers. During the testing phase, the company said it observed that recruiters that used the smart sourcing feature for hiring saved up to six hours per week.

When we asked the company about how it avoids biases or ensures that AI-powered summaries don’t miss out on key details, Indeed said that it employs a responsible AI team to thwart harm.

Indeed’s rival LinkedIn has also infused AI into multiple aspects, such as learning, recruitment, marketing, sales, messaging and profile enhancement.

Deepti Patibandla, senior director of Product at Indeed, told TechCrunch over a call that the company wants to continue its focus on getting people hired.

“While LinkedIn is more of a professional social network or a platform, at Indeed, we want to get more people hired. That is the core value of our business. As a differentiator, we want to make the hiring process easier,” she said.

“We want to make sure that people are getting the right jobs and not getting inundated by random jobs. Those two are our main focal points for now. Long term we see the opportunity for users to come to Indeed to set their career trajectory path.”

Last year, Indeed laid off 2,200 employees, or 15% of its staff. At that time, CEO Chris Hyams said that the organization was “simply too big for what lies ahead.”


Software Development in Sri Lanka

Robotic Automations

LinkedIn is experimenting with a TikTok-like video feed in its app | TechCrunch

April 12, 2024 1:44 PM0


LinkedIn is testing a new TikTok-like short-form video feed, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Wednesday. With this new test, LinkedIn joins numerous other popular apps that have launched their own short-form video feeds following TikTok’s rise in popularity, including Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and Netflix.

The feed was first spotted by Austin Null, a strategy director at an influencer agency called McKinney. Null posted a short demo on LinkedIn showcasing the new feed, which lives in the app’s navigation bar in a new “Video” tab. Once you tap on the new Video button, you will enter into a vertical feed of short videos that you can swipe through. You can like a video, leave a comment or share it with others. The company didn’t share details about how the feed determines which videos to show users.

The new addition is similar to the vertical short-form video feeds you see in other apps, but while those feeds include a variety of content ranging from comedy to cooking videos, LinkedIn’s feed is obviously focused on careers and professionalism. While you have always been able to post videos on LinkedIn, the new dedicated feed is  designed to boost engagement and discovery on the platform by presenting bite-sized videos that people can quickly scroll through.

Microsoft-owned LinkedIn says videos are becoming one of its users’ desired formats for learning from professionals and experts, which is why it’s testing a new way for users to discover relevant videos. The feature is in early testing, so most people won’t have access to it just yet.

The launch of the new feature comes as many creators have amassed notable followings on TikTok for sharing advice and experiences regarding topics like career growth, job searches and professional development. LinkedIn’s new feed would give creators a new place to share their video content and potentially reach more viewers. It’s possible that LinkedIn may also monetize the feed at some point in the future to entice creators to post their video content on the app.

Although the feature presents new opportunities for creators, some users might not see the new feed as a welcome addition to the app, as they may feel inundated by the many different short-form videos feeds on popular apps.


Software Development in Sri Lanka

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