LinkedIn to sunset Stories after less than a year

Microsoft-owned LinkedIn has announced that it's shutting down its Stories feature, less than a year after it was first launched.

The tool, which allows users to share photos or 20-second videos to their profile for 24 hours, has been available for UK users since October 2020, allowing them to “share their professional experiences and keep in touch with their community in a more visual way”.

However, LinkedIn has now shifted its stance on Stories, with the company’s senior director of Product, Liz Li, announcing that the feature will be removed “by the end of September” and replaced with a “new experience”.

“To those of you who jumped into Stories to share bite-sized glimpses of video content in a professional context, thank you. Stories provided an easy way for you to share insights, ask for help, and react to news and industry updates,” Li wrote in a LinkedIn post.

LinkedIn Stories were introduced at a time when the feature was already oversaturated across social media platforms. Although first popularised through apps such as Snapchat and Instagram, the feature has since been adopted by Facebook, Twitter, Skype, and even Airbnb, sparking ridicule among internet users.

However, Li stated that the shutting down of the feature was due to LinkedIn users voicing a preference for videos that wouldn’t automatically disappear after 24 hours.

“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,” she stated, adding that LinkedIn is seeking feedback from users on how to “create an even better experience”.

Although the feature was first introduced as a way to share a more personal side to job-hunting and working, it trod a fine line between professional and private lives.

Li’s announcement comes less than a month after Twitter sunsetted its own Stories feature, known as Fleets. The tool first launched on 17 November 2020, but also struggled to stay relevant.

“We haven’t seen an increase in the number of new people joining the conversation with Fleets like we hoped,” said Twitter’s Consumer Product VP Ilya Brown.