LinkedIn Set To Take On Clubhouse With Creator Mode: What Investors Should Know

The rise of Clubhouse has given influencers and experts in different fields a chance to share and interact with an audience. Several companies are planning to offer platforms that compete against Clubhouse, including a newly announced platform from LinkedIn.

What Happened: LinkedIn, which was acquired in 2016 by Microsoft Corporation MSFT, announced a new creator mode that will rollout globally for users next week.

LinkedIn creators will be able to add tags to what topics they will talk about the most to attract new followers. A mode on the profile dashboard will add a follow button instead of connect.

A user’s profile will show when they are live to build the audience as well.

“We’re doing some early tests to create a unique audio experience connected to your professional identity and we’re looking at how we can bring audio to other parts of LinkedIn,” spokesperson Suzi Owens told TechCrunch.

Related Link: How Facebook, Mark Cuban Are Competing With The Clubhouse Craze

Why It’s Important: With several competitors in the market, LinkedIn could gain share by connecting people who already have a professional identity and not just a social media presence. Twitter Inc TWTR is one company that is also taking on Clubhouse with its audio features.

Screenshots of the LinkedIn Clubhouse style platform show a stage with the speakers and a set of listeners featured below. Users can join and leave the room, react to comments and request to speak.

“Our priority is to build a trusted community where people feel safe and can be productive,” Owens said. LinkedIn could be focusing heavily on security and identification of speakers and listeners. Owens said it would feature conversations “with real people” and focus on “ensuring a safe environment.”

Along with the announcement of the creator mode, LinkedIn unveiled a feature to bring a professional story to life with a video cover story, much like a video resume.

LinkedIn Stats: The platform has over 740 million global members in 2020 with sessions showing an increase of 30% year-over-year in 2020. The company saw more than 21 million people attend an event on its platform in 2020.

Price Action: Shares of Microsoft Corporation were up 1.69% to $235.77 at close on Wednesday.

(Photo: LinkedIn)