LinkedIn is Rolling Out the Beta Version of its ‘Live’ Video Broadcasts in the U.S.

LinkedIn has revealed that it is going to launch the beta version of its new live video streaming feature. Tech Crunch on Monday spotted the news, according to which the company will be providing its invite-only live feature to be broadcasted for select groups in the U.S.

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Image Source: inc.com

The live feature will broadcast conferences, advice from the experts, news, interviews as well as events from big companies and famous influencers. The feature will also help people have discussions online.

Although the feature is an invite-only and is still in its beta, LinkedIn is also offering a contact form, through which, the people who want to try out the live streaming, can apply for it. The company has not given any clues on if the feature will be available for everyone or not.

For now, the feature is in its pilot mode and will be rolling out this week for testing. The company has collaborated with several third-party developers that have sufficient experience in live broadcasting streaming services development. The company aims at having posted more polished live videos on the platform, that matches the theme of LinkedIn. The third party developers may include Wirecast, Switcher Studio, Wowza Media Systems, Socialive and Brandlive, etc. and according to LinkedIn, more names will be added to the list. Also, Microsoft’s Azure Media Services will also work as a part of this effort.

Noticeably, Microsoft had acquired LinkedIn in 2016, but it has never interfered or been a part of the company’s working.

In August 2017, LinkedIn had also introduced a native video feature for users, which started functioning as in-feed video ads, last year in the spring. According to LinkedIn, the users are more likely to watch videos rather reading long static sponsored content. The company also revealed that it is already earning 30 per cent more comments over the videos ads.

Companies like Facebook and Twitter are already providing the same feature to their users, and it has been the biggest form for them to grab more user engagement. So it would be interesting to see how the live video streaming feature will change things for LinkedIn.