Working professionals may soon be able to post appraisal updates on LinkedIn Stories

The company plans to attract millennial workers with this new feature.

By Rohan Abraham, ET Bureau | Mar 06, 2020, 05.07 PM IST

LinkedIn, the professional networking website that is a cross between a college job fair and an office message board, is reportedly tweaking its interface to incorporate Snapchat-style stories. The Microsoft-owned platform has long been one of the saner corners of the internet, with members mostly keeping to sharing work-related content and professional updates.

However, the redesign will give younger members of the workforce a chance to express their creativity, giving head-hunters a more intimate look at the personal lives of prospective hires. The company announced that it was internally testing out a “new conversational format” for business conversations.

“We’re never done meeting our members where their voices are. Last year, we started asking ourselves what Stories might look like in a professional context. Stories offer a lightweight, fun way to share an update without it having to be perfect or attached to your profile forever,” said Pete Davies, LinkedIn’s head of content products, in a blog post.

The transient nature of “Stories” means that they are designed to disappear after a period of time, thereby giving viewers a window into your professional life, without it being attached to your profile for posterity. Davies added that companies could use stories to share “key moments from work events” or snippets from regular work days to attract millennial workers.

LinkedIn1_getty — Any decision to make LinkedIn's Stories feature available to the public would be announced 'in the coming months'.

LinkedIn has dabbled with sprucing up their website in the past, albeit with mixed success. In 2018, the company introduced video filters in an attempt to shed its identity as the Craigslist for jobs. The number of multimedia posts by organizations increased, but the feature did not take off as expected with users.

“Stories” was originally conceived by Snapchat in 2013, before other platforms like Instagram and Facebook plagiarized the idea and incorporated disappearing short-form videos in their apps. LinkedIn previously tested a variation of this feature in 2018 in the form of “Student Voices” that let college students post videos to a “campus playlist.”

The feed could be accessed on a widget at the top of the LinkedIn app but only basic video formats could be uploaded. The surfeit of filters and editing tools that platforms like Instagram provide to transform humdrum frames into aesthetically pleasing shots, were also notably absent.

According to Davies, the feature is currently being tested internally, and any decision to make it available to the public would be announced “in the coming months.” Employees unhappy with their appraisals will soon have a new medium to give vent to their frustration.

Modi, PeeCee, Kunal Bahl: Here Are LinkedIn India's Most-Viewed Profiles

1/11

Success means different things to different people. LinkedIn, the world's leading professional social media platform announces this year's most-viewed professionals on LinkedIn in India.

This year (2017-18) is the fifth edition for India. From Narendra Modi to Priyanka Chopra, all of them are examples of members who invest in their own professional brand and continue to inspire the community around them.

They have not only had exciting career journeys but participate in meaningful dialogue, offer perspectives and drive conversations across many of the 50 million plus members in India. Here's a look at all those who are on the coveted list:

Image: From left to right, Narendra Modi, Priyanka Chopra and Kunal Bahl.