Here’s a neat update for you amusement-park goers out there – LinkedIn users have been publishing makeshift Carousel posts for quite some time, using the PDF attachment option to create individual frames. Now, LinkedIn has decided to make this a full-fledged function, with a new ‘Carousel’ post option being added to your update tools.
It’s Roundabout Time
Based on an example posted by the legendary Matt Navarra, some users now have the option to create a Carousel post within the LinkedIn update process. If you tap on it, you’ll then be taken through the Carousel creation process, which enables you to select multiple still images or video clips to add to your post.
It seems that users will also be able to add alt-text within the setup process, while simultaneously being able to rearrange the order of their uploads however they like before posting. While this does add a bit of extra personalization to Carousels, LinkedIn notes that users have been posting them for a few years already, so really, it’s more an expansion of the function rather than a raw introduction.
Back in 2019, LinkedIn added the ability to attach PDFs to your LinkedIn updates, which then converts your document into a multi-frame preview desk that other users can then swipe through in-stream. However, though convenient and more interactive than vanilla posts, they don’t look as nice as embedded posts.
This was meant to only showcase documents and presentations in the app, but users woon worked out that you could build LinkedIn Carousels by uploading separate images as each page of your PDF. Quite frankly, it has even become a popular posting option – just last month, Social Insider reported that native documents, which are posts that contain PDFs directly uploaded on LinkedIn, generate three times more clicks than any other type of content
If we were to assume, we’d place our bets that the Carousel workaround was largely responsible for this and, given its usage and popularity, it’s not too much of a surprise to see LinkedIn convert it into its own posting option, complete with its own dedicated functionality. This is one of a rare number of times where user action and behavior directly impacted the decision of social platforms. Yes, insights do contribute to future changes, but in this case, it was pure observation that gave birth to a ‘new’ option.
The Wrap
With this, users no longer need to rely on the sneaky workaround since they’ll now be able to create and directly post their own Carousels. If you’ve given everything stated above decent consideration, then you should have an inclination as to what you can gain if you include it in your process and strategy.
For testing, LinkedIn mentioned that it’s currently testing Carousels with a modest pool of ‘thousands of creators’. They’ll hopefully roll the option out to all users by Fall of this year.
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