Quick answer: There are a few key reasons why you currently can’t create carousels directly on LinkedIn:
- LinkedIn doesn’t natively support carousels – Unlike other social platforms like Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn doesn’t yet have a built-in carousel ad format.
- LinkedIn focuses on professional content – As a professional networking site, LinkedIn aims to keep its feed focused on professional updates and discussions rather than highly visual content.
- Technical limitations – Creating a functioning carousel requires coding that LinkedIn does not allow in posts.
So in short, LinkedIn’s focus on professional content and networking as well as technical limitations mean carousels aren’t supported natively. However, there are a few workarounds which we’ll explore in this article.
What is a Carousel?
A carousel post refers to a post that contains a slideshow of multiple images and/or videos that users can horizontally scroll through. They allow you to showcase more visual content in a compact vertical space.
Carousels are commonly used on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok to highlight multiple visuals, products, promotions, events, and more. They are attention-grabbing and can achieve higher engagement as users swipe through thedifferent slides.
Some key advantages of carousels include:
- Consolidating multiple visuals into one post
- Creating visual impact and attracting attention
- Showcasing products, services, or events
- Telling a story or conveying information sequentially
- Increasing engagement and interactivity
Why Doesn’t LinkedIn Have a Native Carousel Feature?
There are a few core reasons why LinkedIn does not yet support carousels natively on their platform:
Focus on Professional Content
As a professional networking platform, LinkedIn aims to keep their feed focused on substantive professional updates, discussions, and thoughtful commentary. Highly visual posts like carousels take up a lot of feed real estate and can be seen as overly promotional or distracting.
Technical Limitations
Building a properly functioning carousel requires coding capabilities that LinkedIn does not allow in their posts currently. Posts support plain text and basic rich text formatting but not the HTML/CSS required to create an interactive carousel.
Product Roadmap Priorities
LinkedIn product development is focused on features that align with their mission of professional networking and development. Carousels may be considered too visually flashy and not aligned with their brand.
Other post formats like native video and multimedia support have been prioritized over carousels to date. But their product roadmap evolves over time based on user needs.
Wanting to Limit Advertising Content
Allowing carousels could open the floodgates to more promotional and salesy content, which LinkedIn works to limit in the main feed. They want a balance of organic and advertising content.
Concerns Over Misuse
Carousels can be misused to spread misinformation or unsubstantiated claims by allowing impactful visuals in sequence. LinkedIn likely wants more oversight and control before enabling the format.
What are Some Workarounds and Alternatives?
While you can’t create a true native carousel within LinkedIn currently, there are some workarounds and alternatives to create a similar visual effect.
Photo Albums
One option is to create a multi-photo album post. You can upload up to 10 images and add captions. Followers can then click through the images, mimicking a carousel.
Video Posts
Alternatively, you can combine images/graphics into a video file and upload as a native video post. This allows you to simulate the visual flow of a carousel.
Link Previews
When sharing links to external sites, some sites will generate a link preview with a carousel of images. This can approximate a carousel visually within your LinkedIn post.
Text Carousels
Use line breaks and text highlighting to simulate a text-based carousel, guiding readers through key points sequentially.
Company Pages
Company Pages have greater functionality than individual profiles. You may be able to embed HTML carousels directly into Company Page updates.
Expand Your Content
Rather than condensing into a carousel, expand each key visual into its own post to maximize engagement.
Best Practices for LinkedIn Visual Content
While native carousels aren’t supported currently, you can still incorporate visual content effectively on LinkedIn by following these best practices:
- Use high-quality, professional images that align with your brand.
- Write detailed captions to provide context and commentary on visuals.
- Showcase visual content organically within posts rather than force a “carousel” effect.
- Use visuals to support key points rather than distracting or decorative images.
- Ensure visuals look great both on desktop and mobile feeds.
- Use visuals to illustrate ideas and make complex information more accessible.
- Balance text and visual content to cater to different learning styles.
- Consider information hierarchy and sequencing when using multiple visuals.
- Monitor engagement and optimize based on top-performing visual content types.
The Future of Carousels on LinkedIn
It’s quite possible that native carousels will eventually make their way onto LinkedIn as user and marketer demand increases. Visual content is only growing in popularity across social media. However, LinkedIn is likely to approach it in a gradual, controlled manner.
Potential future scenarios include:
- Introducing carousels first only for Company Pages rather than individual profiles
- Rolling out carousel ads in their advertising platform before organic carousels
- Launching carousels only for certain approved users or partners to test performance
- Enabling carousel creation only through third-party integrations vs directly in the LinkedIn UI
As LinkedIn continues to evolve, striking the right balance between professional content and engaging visual formats will be key. But for now, the focus remains on high-value text-based updates and discussions to serve their core professional audience.
Table Summary
| Reason | Details |
|---|---|
| Focus on professional content | LinkedIn aims to keep the feed focused on substantive professional updates rather than distracting visual posts. |
| Technical limitations | LinkedIn’s posting capabilities don’t support the HTML/CSS required to create carousels currently. |
| Product roadmap prioritization | LinkedIn is prioritizing other product features over adding carousel functionality. |
| Limiting advertising content | Allowing carousels could lead to more salesy/promotional content. |
| Concerns over misuse | Carousels could be misused to spread misinformation or unsubstantiated claims. |
Workaround Options
- Photo albums
- Video posts
- Link previews with carousels
- Text-based carousels
- Company Page embed
- Expand each visual into separate posts
Conclusion
In summary, LinkedIn does not offer native carousel functionality mainly due to its focus on professional networking, technical limitations, and strategic product priorities. However, there are creative workarounds to mimic carousels through photo albums, videos, text formatting, and more. As demand grows, we may see LinkedIn introduce carousels in a thoughtful, phased approach focusing on value-add visuals for their professional audience. But for now, high-quality text-based content remains the best way to engage your community on LinkedIn.
