When LinkedIn first unveiled Stories, many would have definitely thought that they were joining the bandwagon of the 24-hour ephermal format that started with Snapchat. Though the only country in the Middle East to join the rollout is the UAE, I’m in Qatar and saw it show up on my account on June 13.
I found it quite a surprise that I got the feature as I’m not in either of the following countries during the rollout: Netherlands, Brazil, and UAE. Seems that LinkedIn has chosen to cast the user net wider to select individuals (though the criteria could be anything on how they chose them).
Discoveries on using LinkedIn Stories
You might think that you’d use LinkedIn Stories in the same way as Snapchat/Instagram Stories/Facebook Stories/WhatsApp/etc., but think of it in a different way given the nature of users on this professional network.
The UAE has the largest userbase of LinkedIn users in the Middle East and North Africa region, now touching the 4 million mark with Saudi Arabia just behind them.
When it comes to posting, it’s all done by just tapping the Stories navigation below the Search bar when you’re in the Home feed. This works both for individuals and company page admins. Other things I’ve discovered include the following:
- Only supports portrait orientation for posting.
- Use photos and videos (up to 20 seconds), whether it’s from the camera itself or your smartphone library.
- Sticker options are limited. Interactive stickers are restricted to just Mention ones, allowing you to tag individuals.
- Currently, those who have Stories enabled can see other users’ Stories as well, whether it’s a connection or company page.
- They can be viewed by your connections and those who may be following you, as long as they also have access to Stories.
Consider this new feature/product to help professionals give their connections/followers an inside look into their lives. This would definitely benefit the Influencer verified users, complementing their updates. Company pages will see this as an extension to their brand, serving to highlight the inner workings of their organization.
One thing is clear that this works both on the native apps on iOS and the iPadOS, which allows you to view and post.
Even though this is just a start, you can’t expect a plethora of features to mimic other platforms. They’ll be adding more based on what works for the network. Got a question about it? Hopefully this FAQ should have the answers.
