Two weeks ago, TechCrunch broke the news that LinkedIn was getting into the game and helping users “deepen their relationships” through puzzle-based interactions. And on Wednesday, TechCrunch reported that the Microsoft-owned social network is experimenting with short-form videos.
It's almost as if LinkedIn is targeting a whole new “type” of users: users stuck in limbo between two other popular social networks.
Wordle's viral growth began on Twitter, where the New York Times reportedly made a seven-figure donation to the web-based word game. And he said TikTok is well past the 1 billion user mark, and recently became the first non-gaming app to reach $10 billion in consumer spending, all from short-form videos.
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Things haven't changed at all since Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and changed its name to X. In the US alone, the number of daily users of the app formerly known as Twitter has fallen by nearly a quarter worldwide, according to the latest figures. Months after becoming the plaything of the world's richest individual.
Federation competitors like Mastodon and Bluesky are vying for mindshare among former X users, and the mighty Meta has thrown its hat into the ring with Threads. But this fragmentation has left millions of people bouncing around half-heartedly between countless different social networks, unsure of where to hang out.
TikTok can be likened to the next generation of Twitter, packed with short-form content, influencers, hashtags, and trending topics. The jump is obvious at some points, but for many who grew up on TikTok, it's just too foreign. twitter.
Like almost all successful social networks, Twitter grew organically. The combination of the right people, the right time, the right backers, and the right technology has made Twitter a scalable product that reaches millions of users. It was impossible to immediately lift and shift that community to a new platform, and the audience fragmentation we saw in the aftermath was inevitable.
twitter sized hole
This is where LinkedIn fills a huge hole in many people's lives. Sure, we've all spent years deriding “professional social networks” and deriding the self-aggrandizing hustle culture that pervades a community of over a billion people, but no one has his LinkedIn account and has been eyeing it. At different times when you need it, like when you're looking for a new job or trying to build your network. And now, with bird apps struggling, it's serving as an obvious alternative.
This all goes back to LinkedIn's latest efforts to move with the times. Microsoft gave LinkedIn more than $26 billion in funding seven years ago and has been largely silent about its performance in the years since, but has recently been vocal about its growth rate. LinkedIn revealed that its fiscal year 2023 revenue will be $15 billion, with nearly half of that coming from its corporate recruiting software. And a few weeks ago, LinkedIn announced that premium subscriptions brought in $1.7 billion last year (the kind of numbers Musk can only dream of at Company X).
The idea of LinkedIn being something of a savior for Twitter leavers isn't new, but we're starting to see that people are starting to jump on its potential as more than most people think. I'm starting to understand. It's clear that LinkedIn can't completely shake off its “business” shackles, and we shouldn't expect Taylor Swift or Ronaldo to advertise there any time soon (fingers crossed), but It's clear that they want to get rid of the “stifling social world.” Job Seeker Network's reputation.
This doesn't mean there will be a surge of Gen Zers looking to demonstrate thought leadership through short 10-second skits on LinkedIn. And LinkedIn shouldn't try to be Twitter or TikTok. They're targeting a completely different audience. But you can certainly borrow from their special sauce to appeal to a wider audience.
While other social networks were abandoning news and X lost its ability to stay on top of world events like it once did, LinkedIn was already starting to capitalize on this big change with more investment. Now, with the addition of games and short videos, LinkedIn wants even more action.