Latest LinkedIn Algorithm Updates Every Tech Professional Should Know

If you’re one of the millions of business owners who use LinkedIn for sharing and engagement, you should be aware of the latest LinkedIn algorithm updates. It’s important to note that LinkedIn has adjusted its algorithm in response to user complaints that their feeds were being flooded with content that wasn’t appropriate for business use. In this article, we will delve into the significant updates to LinkedIn’s news feed and the tricks of making your content go viral.

The Mission of LinkedIn Is to Address a Challenge

The use of LinkedIn has skyrocketed in recent years. From 2021 to 2023, the company claims that the number of pieces of content shared by its users increased by 42%, while the number of pieces of content viewed increased by 27%, and three professionals are now signing up for the service every second.

According to Dan Roth, editor-in-chief of LinkedIn, people’s LinkedIn posts became significantly more introspective during the pandemic. Users began posting the same kinds of selfies and family images they might have on Facebook, as “our homes and our work lives got enmeshed,” as he puts it.

Then, some users resorted to practices that are now commonplace on social media, such as engaging in algorithmic “games” to boost their popularity and the number of people who follow them.

Many LinkedIn members began to express dissatisfaction as a result. “They were saying, ‘I don’t want to see that anymore — now I want to learn how to get better at what I’m doing,'” Roth explains.

As a result, LinkedIn began working on ways to make its feed more than just interesting and compelling. The business claims it has witnessed an 80% reduction in users complaining about irrelevant items on their feeds as a result of the modifications, which we will get into below.

Two Major Updates to LinkedIn’s News Feed

Have you noticed any changes in your LinkedIn reach in the last two months? For instance, you might have experienced a temporary drop despite increasing interactions.  Why am I asking these questions? In each update, things might change. What has changed, briefly, is as follows:

• LinkedIn updates have a higher chance of being seen by your followers.

Why? This is in response to feedback from actual users. According to Xiong, Product Manager at LinkedIn, “People find it most valuable when content is grounded in knowledge and advice,” this is especially true when those share the content in the reader’s immediate social circle. There has been a 10% increase in LinkedIn users checking out updates from their connections.

• Second, knowledge and advice posts are now given more visibility across the board.

This is the antidote to the aforementioned shift and the major method by which your postings will be seen by individuals who do not already follow you.

LinkedIn’s algorithm can now determine if a post contains expertise and guidance and then recommend it to other users who will find it helpful.

According to Xiong, “people checking out and viewing content that is grounded in knowledge from people that are out of their network” on LinkedIn has increased by nearly 40%.

Don’t Forget Old Algorithms

In addition to new algorithms, old algorithms are also continuing. The relevance factor is working in conjunction with the expertise part of the new algorithm.

LinkedIn’s algorithm has always seemed overly complex, so I will explain the topic step by step with a few questions and in the simplest way possible to avoid too much confusion.

What was the underlying problem behind this change?
We all know how LinkedIn’s feed works. We see the people who share posts, and, of course, those who comment on and like these posts. This way, many popular posts appear in our feed even if we are not connected.

While interactions on LinkedIn have been increasing, especially in the past year, LinkedIn realized that this increase was not evenly distributed and identified a problem. There is indeed an increase in interactions, but this increase in virality was happening not for all users but for the 1% known as the popular segment. In other words, a kind of Matthew effect was taking place, and already popular accounts were becoming even more popular.

So, why is this a problem for LinkedIn, and why did they change the algorithm?
Because the number of content creators is decreasing every day! What keeps a social platform alive is always the creation of user content. Because if one segment creates content and the other only interacts with it, you cannot establish the right ecosystem. Therefore, LinkedIn and all platforms need to encourage users to create content.

Members who receive +10 likes on their updates are 17% more likely to share a new update next week than members who received no feedback! Bingo! This piece of information is the key point of the entire algorithm change. Since members are more likely to share more content when they receive more interactions, LinkedIn said, “I will give them a chance to receive interactions,” and thus changed the main feed algorithm.

Key Point: So, what was the old update changed?
With the change, the algorithm can now determine the value of the feedback received when someone creates content. What does this mean? So, if you get 5 likes from 5 different people, those five likes are not all the same. Based on the relevance level of the people who gave those 5 likes, the system will determine a value, affecting the ranking and reach of your content in the main feed. Here, a spam filter will also be in place to separate low-quality content.

Even though it may seem like you are reaching a smaller audience based on the feedback value given to your content, you will reach a more effective audience and receive more interactions compared to before.

Lessons:
Communicate more with your own network.
Create more content and get noticed.
Don’t hesitate to communicate with your network and develop career/job opportunities.
And you can be sure that LinkedIn is not interested in having as many followers as other platforms or becoming a sensation, to put it simply. It maintains its own dynamics in this regard.

What LinkedIn Means When It Talks About ‘Knowledge and Advice

This is where the plot thickens because it begs the question: How can a website tell when a post contains true knowledge and advice?

Dan Roth says that they are looking to see if you are building a community around content, and knowledge-sharing that you are uniquely qualified to talk about.

Targeting Certain Demographic

Every piece of content has a unique total market that it can potentially reach. You need to ask yourself, “Who am I trying to reach with this?” and give some thought to the answer.

LinkedIn is considering this as well. It analyses each post by asking, essentially, “Who is this relevant to?” Sometimes the answer is rather limited; for example, if you’ve shared something about your family, the system may determine that it’s only of interest to your closest friends and family. Alternatively, the system may start displaying your message inside the relevant community because you discussed B2B marketing.

Xiong advises other creators to consider how they might share the knowledge they’ve gained with others. She says, “That is the kind of thing that will likely get you to reach the right audience as well.”

Expertise and Focusing on What You Know the Best

LinkedIn doesn’t only assess the quality of your post when you publish it. It is now gauging your expertise in the subject matter of your post as well.

LinkedIn is better able to ensure that we are providing the appropriate content to the appropriate individuals as a result of the fact that the website in question maintains a professional profile of record.

For example, what would happen if one wrote a LinkedIn article about how to be a great architect, given that he had no prior experience in the field? LinkedIn would have to say something like, “Hey, this is not the highest quality content, this user has none of the skills in this area, and we have not seen him have success with architectural content in the past.”

Meaningful Comments

LinkedIn used to highlight postings with plenty of comments. Some users responded by forming “engagement groups” with the shared goal of rapidly upvoting each other’s content. Regarding this situation, LinkedIn aimed to intervene.

Currently, the website promotes postings that receive “meaningful comments.” This indicates that people are genuinely replying to the post’s content, as opposed to simply typing something like “great!” or “so true!” and hitting the “post” button.

Aiming to Help the Target Audience, No Going Viral

One of the factors that has contributed to people’s phenomenal success on platforms such as TikTok is their ability to target a certain subset of users.

Also, it appears that LinkedIn is engaging in the same activity. Its primary concern is not making postings go viral but rather ensuring that the appropriate audience is exposed to the appropriate material for that audience.

You don’t need to be everything to everyone; in fact, trying to do so may make it more difficult for the LinkedIn algorithm to determine who it should be pushing your postings to.
Instead, you should direct your comments to a particular group of people and always speak in that manner. Whether that be in marketing, the startup area, or retirement savings, there are communities to be found there. Tapping into a specialized market is the way to go.

Maintaining a Distinct Point of View

It is always helpful to provide something a little different to everyone else if you want to stand out from the crowd and be noticed. “Tell the narrative from your perspective, which no one else has. According to LinkedIn’s statement, “We reward posts that provide opinion, advice, or perspective.”

Is there another angle from which you may tackle a topic that is currently popular? Do you have an original perspective that you could share with us and help advance the discussion?

Starting or Continuing a Conversation

Your postings will travel further if they have a vibrant discussion going on in the comments section, as is the case with most social media platforms.

“We’re looking to see that the post is driving meaningful comments from relevant users,” LinkedIn added. “Thank you for your feedback.”

Find ways to stimulate conversations in your comments to help push your posts out to more people. This could include making calls to action, presenting important questions, or asking other experts in the industry to share their views on a topic that you are discussing.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the same reward level will no longer be given for non-professional content, particularly for posts aimed at manipulating the system. The logic for this is that during the pandemic, when most of us saw our work and home lives blend for some time, LinkedIn noticed an increase in the amount of content similar to what is found on Facebook. And because LinkedIn’s algorithm was designed to magnify the postings that received the greatest engagement, re-posts of viral content that originated on other platforms began to appear, a problem that the company is currently attempting to rectify.

You may boost your visibility on the platform by focusing on your expertise, your previous experiences, valuable comments, and your first-degree connections. Let’s see what 2024 holds for LinkedIn. We’ll find out what changes will occur as it moves while rising. 🙂

Sources:

1. LinkedIn Changed Its Algorithms — Here’s How Your Posts Will Get More Attention Now

2. LinkedIn Shares New Insights into its Latest Algorithm Updates