What you need to know
- Elon Musk’s X is looking to take on Microsoft owned LinkedIn.
- He branded LinkedIn as “cringe” and wants to make a competitor that is “cool”.
- This comes after his purchase of recruitment start-up Laskie earlier this year.
Elon Musk thinks LinkedIn is “cringe”. Now we can find anything to be cringe depending on our particular tastes and many would think the same of Musk, but his drive to make X, formerly known as Twitter, into the everything app means it could soon be taking on the Microsoft owned platform at its own game. All in the quest to make hiring “cool” again.
People send me LinkedIn links sometimes, but the cringe level is so high that I just can’t bring myself to use it, so I ask for the resume or bio to be emailed.We will make sure that the X competitor to LinkedIn is cool.August 27, 2023
Unfortunately for X/Twitter, right now the dramas surrounding the platform and the controversies from Musk himself means a lot of people have been looking around at other platforms. One of the beneficiaries of this appears to be LinkedIn. According to Nature, many academics are worried about diversity, equity and inclusion on the platform. LinkedIn has become the new home for some of these academics as they try and keep a sense of community.
X Hiring recently launched to take on LinkedIn and is currently in beta. It is only available to organizations paying $1,000 a month for the Gold Tick verification, which obviously excludes many businesses from accessing this. This allows them to display a section on their profile pages that states that they’re hiring. It’s pretty basic right now it seems, but this is a beta, and it’s going to take time for features to be added, as with anything else.
Unlock early access to the X Hiring Beta — exclusively for Verified Organizations.Feature your most critical roles and organically reach millions of relevant candidates.Apply for the Beta today 🚀: https://t.co/viOQ9BUM3Y pic.twitter.com/AYzdBIDjdsAugust 25, 2023
This move from Elon Musk to make X a LinkedIn competitor is obviously in its infancy, but he seems serious about making X the everything app. There’s already a big push on video content and features being rolled out to compete with YouTube and maybe streaming platforms like Twitch. However, LinkedIn is a very different beast, and it will be a very difficult nut to crack, so let’s see how it unfolds. Organisations can apply for the beta here.
