LinkedIn is killing off its ephemeral Stories features but plans to use what it learned to improve videos across its platform.
LinkedIn introduced Stories last year as a way for professionals to share short videos that would disappear after 24 hours. Liz Li, Senior Director of Product at LinkedIn, says the company was surprised to learn that some people wanted their videos to have more permanence than Stories provides.
You wish videos could live on your profile, not disappear. In developing Stories, we assumed people wouldn’t want informal videos attached to their profile, and that ephemerality would reduce barriers that people feel about posting. Turns out, you want to create lasting videos that tell your professional story in a more personal way and that showcase both your personality and expertise.
Feedback also indicated that many users wanted tools to create more engaging videos.
LinkedIn appears to be listening to the feedback and plans to kill off Stories by the end of September. The company will then take the feedback and lessons its learned, and roll them into a new and improved video experience.
We’ve learned a ton. Now, we’re taking those learnings to evolve the Stories format into a reimagined video experience across LinkedIn that’s even richer and more conversational. We want to embrace mixed media and creative tools of Stories in a consistent way across our platform, while working to integrate it more tightly with your professional identity.