Hello everyone and welcome to a new episode. This week I have had messages from several people about an article doing the rounds that details how the LinkedIn algorithm works – “Wow, that sounds very interesting” I thought….then I read it and felt somewhat cheated.

It’s not what it purports to be but I do think it’s worth covering so that will be the main subject for this week

More of that later but first…..

Interesting Stuff I Saw This Week

• Alex Jones’ Infowars removed from LinkedIn
• A look inside how my team helps keep members safe

LinkedIn Tip

It seems that the new mobile voice messaging has now been rolled out to many more of you so I thought it would be worth covering the best way to use voice messages.

Firstly it’s fair to say that some people will hate to receive one, irrespective of the circumstances so if you are in any doubt…don’t do it!

That said, I have found that many people actually enjoy them. I think there are however only certain circumstances where a voice message is the most appropriate way to communicate.

You can hear them in this video post

New LinkedIn Features

Topics have disappeared from my desktop homepage to be replaced with company page links with stats – surely very few users will benefit from this change. In addition my feed is now back to ‘top’ across all I follow which is a step backwards.

I suspect they are just testing out different formats. You can still reach your saved # searches by conducting a # content search.

Improved preview and engagement stats on the latest article that displays in your profile.

I love this change. I believe LinkedIn are desperate to get more eyes on articles but members have been much more focussed on posts, part of the reason for this is that a post can ‘draw you in’ with a few lines that grab your interest. This move is replicating that, at least for your most recent article.

In addition, the Like & Comment stats can encourage more views.

It’s a shame they haven’t also added the stats to a post that shares an article.

LinkedIn Glitch Causes a Huge Headache For Some

My buddy and fellow LinkedIn Trainer Steve Phillip alerted me to this issue almost two weeks ago and it’s still an ongoing problem.

This is no ordinary glitch and must be incredibly frustrating for those it effects.

As you can see by Steve’s post below, his posts are now hidden and the only way he can get any visibility is to tag people and ask them to engage. He is not the only one who has this problem. LinkedIn say they are on the case but I find it shocking that they have not been able to resolve it yet.

The above post was two days ago but as you can see below, the last post showing in his profile is from 10 months ago!

 

This is very serious and here is how I think LinkedIn should handle it;

• The engineer who is investigating and trying to fix the problem should contact Steve directly – not customer services but the actual person working on it.
• Steve should be given a 6-month extension to his Sales Navigator licence

 

Will either of those things happen? I will let you decide on that!

You either love him or hate him but I find Mr Winnet brightens up my feed. This savage attack on the cringe-worthy Josh Fechter is comedy gold!

I haven’t cracked the LinkedIn algorithm and neither has Sarah Grosz!

This article has gone somewhat viral this week and it needs to be exposed for what it is;

A work of fiction!

UPDATE: It would appear that LinkedIn have removed this article as well as suspending Sarah’s account! So here are two images of the copy so you can still see what she wrote;

 

To be fair, the algorithm probably does have some kind of points system, it is, after all, a machine that works on maths! But Sarah’s system is just guesswork and not the most educated piece of guesswork either!

I have no issue with someone attempting to understand how the algorithm works, it’s what we should all be doing but the way this article is written is disingenuous, to say the least.

It is completely unethical and unacceptable to write something like this without making it crystal clear that her points system is just her best guess as to how the algorithm works.

It seems fake news finally reached LinkedIn!

Whilst that is the main issue I have with this article, I would also highlight some other flaws;

In her points system, she only has native video as the 3rd highest points yet virtually all her posts are native video!

The statement “I even trick the system when I reply to comments – LinkedIn doesn’t care who comments” is completely wrong

So here is my points system, based on my experience and tests over the last year or so – this is not factual, it’s my best guess but I’m 100% sure it is significantly more accurate than Sarah’s!

Posts

• Native video – 5 points
• Text only  – 3 points
• Article – 3 points
• Image post – 2 points
• +1 point for every ‘See more’ click on all the above
• If a post includes an external link or spam/promotional words – reduced to zero points
• Repeated posts attract zero points

 

Engagement

• Unique comment received – 5 points each
• Additional comments – 1 point each
• Original poster comment – 1 point (max)
• Like received – 3 points
• Shared – 1 point
• Comment made on others post – 2 points per comment
• Like given on others post – 1 point each

 

The higher your score, the more followers your post will reach.

This is my best guess as of now, I’m 100% sure this will continue to change in the future.

What is your best guess?

 

This weeks question is about Sales Navigator and is from Rob Curley.

Great question with a very simple answer – No!

I’ve tried adding NOT in the tag search field but that doesn’t work. It would definitely be a good feature to see implemented though.

That’s it for this week, until next time.

Have a great week everyone.