LinkedIn Launches LinkedIn Live

Finally, LinkedIn has jumped on the live-streaming bandwagon, 18 months after they started to support video on the site.

The professional platform owned by Microsoft is launching its live service to their 600 million users! However, LinkedIn has not confirmed the release date. So, don’t be under the assumption that you can go onto the app and start streaming right now, as currently, it is only accessible for selected users in the US!

“Video is the fastest growing format on our platform right now, and the one most likely to get people talking, in-fact live has been the most requested feature” Pete Davies, the director of product management at LinkedIn.

Experience LinkedIn in Real Time

For all businesses no matter the size or industry, video is by far the most engaging content, and it would be silly for LinkedIn not to adapt and have a live function. Although, LinkedIn has some catching up to do, as Facebook launched its live stream service in 2017 followed closely by Instagram.

For LinkedIn Live to be a success, the platform will have to deal with intense competition from the likes of Instagram, YouTube and Twitter, they will need to make people aware as to why they should use LinkedIn live over other platforms!

Now, LinkedIn makes it clear that they believe that their market alone will differentiate them, and they could be right!

The service is not a place to be streaming the latest video game, watch competitions, or view your friends streaming their personal lives! It is for professionals, to share ideas, have Q&As, hold conferences, offer training and network with like-minded professionals.

To ensure the new feature is a success, LinkedIn has partnered with Azure Media Services, to provide support for the important encoding technology to ensure the live stream videos stream seamlessly.

In addition to this, they have joined forces with Wirecast, Switcher Studio, Wowza Media Systems, Socialive and Brandlive to allow content creators to access experienced broadcasting streaming services.

I am excited to see how this function will take off and how different demographics will use it.