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Is LinkedIn the new TikTok? Short-form video is now the fastest-growing category on LinkedIn, growing at twice the rate of other post formats on the platform. According to LinkedIn, total video viewership surged 36% in the first quarter of 2025. Now, LinkedIn is doubling down on video with new features to boost discovery and engagement. The full-screen vertical video experience, first launched on mobile, is now coming to desktop. Users can tap a video, swipe through more, and explore a new video tab for TikTok-like scrolling. Videos are also getting front-and-center placement on the platform. Now, when you search a topic, relevant videos will appear in a swipeable carousel. A bigger follow button in the full-screen player makes it easier to keep up with creators, and viewers can check out a quick profile snapshot and other videos without leaving the player. For users looking to capitalise on the video push, LinkedIn has also launched nano-learning courses on topics including video hooks, editing, repurposing content, and LinkedIn Live. Across LinkedIn, were seeing our members have widespread success when it comes to posting short-form video, Laura Laurenzetti, executive editor of LinkedIn News tells Fast Company. From small business owners to CEOs to Gen Z creators and more, video on LinkedIn is the new frontier for professional successwhich is why were excited to be rolling out a suite of new tools that make the video creation and viewing experiences on LinkedIn even stronger. While LinkedIn might not be the first place people go to doomscroll, its quickly becoming a powerful tool for creators, entrepreneurs, and businesses. Since March 2024, LinkedIn has been pushing hard to attract video creators, launching a TikTok-style vertical feed filled with career advice, industry news, and other content. The move seems to be paying off with video uploads jumping 34% year-over-year in Q4 2024, according to LinkedIn. LinkedIn creators are also seeing the results. Top executives are jumping in, with CEO video posts rising 23% in the past year. Deeptech VC Alex Leigh recently reported two million impressions a week after just three months posting consistently three times a day on LinkedIn. Last month, content creator Piper Phillips saw 13.8 million views on a video made on her phone in 10 minutes. I missed the opportunity to be an early adopter of TikTok and Reels, she wrote in a post. I do ~not~ intend on making the same mistake for LinkedIn video.
Category:
E-Commerce
Global leaders recently gathered at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, under the theme of Collaboration for the Intelligent Age. What exactly is the Intelligent Age and, more importantly, how can we ensure that everyone can participate in this new age? WEF defines the Intelligent Age as a transition away from the Industrial Age to a new phase of human civilization. Its a clear and compelling definition. But what is much less clear is the conversation about the importance of equity and how to approach it. There are many ways leaders can consider equity as they build and adopt AI and other frontier technologies: clear global policies, reaching new markets, financial incentives and disincentives, and the moral imperative. At UNICEF USA, we believe that the relatively simple ingredients of collaboration and information can drive better solutions for everyone in Intelligent Age. Deepening collaboration across business, government, and civil society can usher in more equitable approaches. The benefits of this type of collaboration will reach a wider range of people and create a more powerful and sustainable Fourth Industrial Revolution. Here are several ways that UNICEF is approaching these collaborations. Responsible tech development Companies play an essential role in responsible innovation. And many are already successfully embracing that role. For example, UNICEF cofounded the Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC) project with the LEGO Group, supported by the LEGO Foundation. RITEC aims to make child rights and well-being a primary consideration in the design and development of digital technology. The project is delivered in partnership with university and child-focused organizations such as the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, the University of Sheffield, and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child. We need to include childrens views on decisions that directly affect them; children disproportionately face opportunities and risks from emerging technologies. Think about it: Companies that cater to children and families need to consider their users. We know that consumers are paying attention as safety and inclusivity matter to them: 78% of consumers and 86% of teens believe digital experiences have a positive impact on their lives, but 64% said they would consider switching technology providers if an incident breached their trust. As part of the RITEC project, there is a free toolbox for the gaming industry to advise them on how to design digital play experiences with childrens well-being in mind. The toolbox builds on research with children in 18 countries and collaboration with designers from 35 online gaming companies of different sizes, and from 15 countries. Job-relevant skills Many of todays youth are not able to keep up with skills, hindering social and economic progress. Passport to Earning, a global program developed by UNICEFs Generation Unlimited, includes support from cross-sector partners and founding members including consulting companies like Accenture and PwC, but also government and philanthropic organizations including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and Al Ghurair Foundation (supporting Arab and Emirati youth. The program runs on Microsofts Community Training, a cloud-based learning platform, so young people aged 15-24 can access content local to their communities, even in low-bandwidth areas. The next phase will partially focus on integrating an AI-skills curriculum onto the programs offerings, to help ensure young people have the right skills to thrive in an AI-powered economy. It sounds simple but this is revolutionary because it means that young peopleeven those who are not in school, in any type of skills training programs, or cant always access the internetcan still gain free and relevant skills that will position them for quality jobs. By 2027, Passport to Earning aims to train and certify 8 million youth in AI and digital skilling. AI has the potential to contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030 and be a driver in finding new and innovative solutions to issues that have long prevented children from equitable access to resources. Other initiatives In education, we are working with philanthropic and finance partners to convene disability and AI experts to fast-track accessible digital textbooks development, bridging barriers to learning by including sign language, narration, interactivity, and translation for people with disabilities. We and our partners also work hard to make sure that technologys benefits of dont come at the expense of human rights, like privacy and equality. Sharing best practices on how to empower and protect children is critical to preventing harm today that would have life-long negative impacts. There is not only a responsibility for companies to ensure their policies and products respect childrens rights, but there also is an opportunity for more innovative collaboration between the private and public sectors. As the world navigates quickly evolving technologies, I encourage companies to collaborate with the public sector and civil society to ensure equity. At the same time, open the door to opportunities that foster innovation and collaboration, enhancing a competitive edge through global workforce development, and improving childrens lives and their futures. Michele Walsh is executive vice president and chief philanthropy officer of UNICEF USA.
Category:
E-Commerce
This week, President Trump adviser Elon Musk’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) seems to have gained full access to the Department of Treasury’s payments system responsible for processing trillions of dollars of spending, and containing sensitive personal data about hundreds of millions of Americans including bank accounts, tax data, Social Security numbers, tax refunds, Medicare benefits, and home address. If this concerns you, you’re not alone. Judging from social media, many Americans are overwhelmed with the sheer volume of changes coming from the Trump administration, and are worried about what is happening with our federal government. In short, “people are creeped out,” according to Senator Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, who along with Senator Elizabeth Warren called on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessents decision to grant Musk and DOGE access to sensitive government payment systems. “It is difficult to know all the things that Elon Musk is doing inside the Treasury Department because of a lack of transparency,” Barbara McQuade, who served as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan under President Barack Obama, told Fast Company. Now, DOGE, whose staff has largely operated in secret, communicating through encrypted messages on Signal, according to the Wall Street Journal, is starting to rack up legal challenges. On Monday, a coalition of labor unions and the Alliance for Retired Americans filed a lawsuit suing the Treasury Department, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service to halt the “unlawful ongoing, systematic, and continuous disclosure of personal and financial information” to Elon Musk and other members of DOGE, or to any other person. The lawsuit alleges all three defendants illegally allowed the coalition’s members’ records to be shared with Musks DOGE. The Alliance for Retired Americans and the labor unions, which include the American Federation of Government Employees and the Service Employees International Union, are represented by lawyers from Public Citizen Litigation Group and State Democracy Defenders Fund. What is DOGE and what kind of authority does it have? Trump created DOGE through an executive order on his first day in office, creating a temporary government organization with a mandate to moderniz[e] Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity. But there are many questions about who actually works for DOGE, if the agency is hiring existing government employees or employees from Musk’s various companies, and if DOGE staff are overstepping their legal authority. (Wired recently reported a 25-year-old engineer at DOGE now has administrative privileges over the code that controls Social Security payments, tax returns, and more.) DOGE was originally a joint project that Musk would run with Vivek Ramaswamy (who ran against Trump in the Republican presidential primary before endorsing him), along with Bill McGinley, who was named DOGEs legal counsel. Both Ramaswamy and McGinley have since left, which some have suggested could signal infighting and perhaps a disagreement over how DOGE would function among the group. Musk, meanwhile, was recently classified as a special government employee, which basically allows him to work at the White House for some 130 days before he’s required to file the necessary financial disclosure forms required of White House employees. This is concerning for a number of reasons, as he hasn’t been properly vetted yet, and because as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, which both rely on government contracts, Musk potentially has a number of conflicts of interest.
Category:
E-Commerce
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