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LinkedIn Moves Into Video, Starting With Quora-Style Q&A From Influencers (techcrunch.com)
LinkedIn has become the latest major technology company to get into video content. On Tuesday, the social network for professionals announced a new app that its hand-selected group of influencers can create and share short videos directly to the app's news feed. It's the first time LinkedIn has ever let users upload video directly to the service, something that's been standard on other social sites for years. TechCrunch adds: LinkedIn will start first with videos created by LinkedIn 'Influencers' -- an invitation-only group of 500 LinkedIn users who have significant numbers of followers and who regularly post content to the site -- who will be making videos that are short, 30-seconds-or-less responses to questions put to them specifically or to the community at large. Influencers will be creating their videos using a special iOS and Android app called "Record" that LinkedIn has created for this purpose -- which for now will only be accessible by these Influencers, LinkedIn tells me.
I got 800+ connections with recruiters. Where's my invitation to be an influencer?
The rest of us peasants don't get to participate. LinkedIn is about following the important, big name C level folks using the platform to further promote their names and businesses. It's not about the rest of us. I won't participate in their scheme...if I wanted to watch videos of narcissists doing their thing, there is YouTube and Facebook.
I don't think LinkedIn users are at all interested in any kind of media. LinkedIn is modern equivalent of self-updating Rolodex.
LinkedIn used to be a place where professionals could post an electronic resume, where one would keep a nicely trimmed list of well-known associates that would validate claimed experience with at least some level of authenticity.
Today it's a place where people attempt to connect up with anyone and everyone they've never worked with, all for the express purpose of creating an online resume that would make God himself look woefully inept by comparison.
Video? Sure, why the hell not. It's not like you're going to risk data integrity...
After Windows 10, I thought MS would need to rest up before damaging yet another once-useful product.
Why do people use LinkedIn?
Looking for a tech job? I got 800+ connections to recruiters from the last 20 years that I've talked, interviewed or submitted resumes to during my IT career. If I post online that I'm looking for a job, I'll immediately get 50+ responses. Sometimes LinkedIn is the only way to find jobs that aren't being listed on the job search boards.
Head hunters find me on linked in every few weeks. One day I might need them.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
So that means I can get spammed with more craptastic "invites" from people I've never heard of but now with VIDEO?
Where do I sign up?
Oh wait, Linkedin already automagically signed me up and I can laboriously unsubscribe only to be 'mysteriously' resubbed over and over again!
-Styopa
Given the audience of LinkedIn, I imagine the short list of "influencers" includes...
- Anyone from Gartner or Forrester -- hello Magic Quadrants! [1]
- A random smattering of Web 2.0 startup CEOs talking about "disruption"
- HR consulting snake oil salesmen touting the latest fad
LinkedIn is becoming as much of a dumping ground as Facebook these days. I use it as a public resume, recruiter-collector and contact list. Lots of people are using it as a thinly veiled extension of their personal Facebook profile - adding video is just going to hasten this. There's plenty of narcissists on YouTube, no need to pollute LinkedIn.
[1] Part of being a senior level technology guy in big companies leads me to interact with various people who do nothing beyond looking at where Vendor X is in the Gartner Magic Quadrant before dropping millions on products/projects. What is it about Gartner that conveys Pope-level infallibility? Seriously people, these reports are written by 26 year old MBAs with a tiny bit of tech background...