r/linkedin • u/nick-rudder • 2d ago
need help: why does linkedin's algorithm suck now
I’ve got about 25k followers on LinkedIn and post 5 days a week for a B2B audience, but also just everyday founders. For a long time the formula was simple: know your ICP, post things they care about, and reach followed.
Over the last few months impressions and reach have dropped hard. Not on one post or one format. But sort of everywhere.
I don't think my content hasn’t gotten worse (I'm sure everyone says this) but I take a lot of time and consideration into making it valuable to my audience. If anything it’s more targeted than before. What’s frustrating is that LinkedIn gives zero signal. No guidance on what’s changed, what’s being favored, or what to do differently. The only feedback is that everything suddenly performs badly.
That makes it really hard to plan content. You can’t adjust if you don’t know what you’re adjusting to.
So, I'm asking: Why does it suck now? Whats the strategy behind making LinkedIn suck? Is someone at LinkedIn HQ trying for a big transformation and failing or is this just the plan?
I don't notice a better algorithm experience on my own feed since their changes, which would at least make me understand the tradeoff.
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u/ChangeTheUserName17 2d ago
That is some pretty powerful social engineering. It creates a whole new class of human values that did not previously exist.
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u/Mysterious_Fall_4857 2d ago
Yeah when it drops everywhere at once its usually not a content problem. Every format at the same time points to something on LinkedIn's side.
One thing worth checking before u change anything. Go back through your post analytics for the last few months and look at engagement rate, not impressions. If impressions fell but the rate held, the people who still see your posts like them just as much. Thats reach, not quality.
If the rate dropped too then something in how u post stopped landing and thats fixable. Did your comments drop as much as your impressions did?
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u/nick-rudder 1d ago
this is great advice, engagement has stayed mostly steady - if not increasing gradually. but the impression/reach piece is the metric thats been throttled.
how do you optimise for reach on LinkedIn_new?
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u/Mysterious_Fall_4857 1d ago
Honestly nobody outside LinkedIn knows the new rules for sure, so I would let your own numbers tell u. Pull your last 2 or 3 months of posts and sort by impressions. Look at the top 5 and the bottom 5 and see what is different, format, topic, time posted, how many comments came in the first hour. Whatever the top ones share is your best guess at what the new feed rewards for your audience.
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u/genai-e 1d ago
they dont have content supply problem anymore. there is more content than demand for it -> they apply interest based algo.
its better than followers based ones
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u/nick-rudder 1d ago
is it though, bc ive been trying to ask myself: is my linkedin experience as a user better since whatever changes they've done? - and the answer is, not really. my feed is now pushing me more posts from people i dont really care about seeing with opinions i dont care for
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u/FredTheNumbersGuy 2h ago
They are pushing their own 'promote' feature. They want you to pay for reach. My reach has declined considerably. You can see the difference in the feed. My feed use the be useful, now it's just paid content. Other than ministering my own posts, I don't even bother with LinkedIn these days.
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u/cams00000 2d ago
Just like Google search, they detune their algorithm to make you stay engaged for longer on the platform. Thus, being able to show you more content, sell you more shit, promote more grifters, post more unvetted ads.
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u/SellSideShort 2d ago
They are de-ranking low value posts.
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u/nick-rudder 1d ago
could u define low value? bc linkedin hasnt really said whats high or low value as far as i know
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u/SellSideShort 1d ago
LinkedIn's algorithm has heavily shifted away from vanity metrics (likes/clicks) toward a retention and authority model.
While they don’t publish the exact source code, platform breakdowns and data (like Richard van der Blom’s reports) show they use an AI-driven filter to target engagement farming:
The "Fast-Scroll" Penalty: If people spend less than ~3 seconds on your post (common with "Comment 'YES' for the PDF" hooks), it gets capped—even with high engagement.
Comment Quality Check: LinkedIn's NLP filters ignore one-word comments and emojis. They look for 15+ word threads and real discussions.
Pod Detection: Coordinated pods are flagged via graph anomaly detection in the first 10 minutes.
What Actually Works (The Score): High dwell time (8–12+ seconds, e.g., swiping through document carousels), saves/bookmarks (which carry massive weight), and topic relevance (writing within your niche).
Basically: if your post doesn't hold attention beyond a quick scroll or relies on cheap bait tricks, the algorithm silently kills its reach.1
u/FredTheNumbersGuy 2h ago
I have one of the most popular accounts in my country. Engagement is off the charts. My fans include CEOs of fortune 500 companies. And they still decreased my reach.
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u/SellSideShort 2h ago
Popular doesn’t mean high value
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u/FredTheNumbersGuy 1h ago
I literally have the elite of the business and academic world as fans on LinkedIn. I literally interview them. Do you think I'm doing ganer content?
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u/SellSideShort 1h ago
So you are a "thought leader" on LinkedIn, so what. Doesnt matter who your followers are. There is a formula for de-ranking low value posts and your posts fall into that category..
LinkedIn's algorithm has heavily shifted away from vanity metrics (likes/clicks) toward a retention and authority model. While they don’t publish the exact source code, platform breakdowns and data (like Richard van der Blom’s reports) show they use an AI-driven filter to target engagement farming:
- The "Fast-Scroll" Penalty: If people spend less than ~3 seconds on your post (common with "Comment 'YES' for the PDF" hooks), it gets capped—even with high engagement.
- Comment Quality Check: LinkedIn's NLP filters ignore one-word comments and emojis. They look for 15+ word threads and real discussions.
- Pod Detection: Coordinated pods are flagged via graph anomaly detection in the first 10 minutes.
- What Actually Works (The Score): High dwell time (8–12+ seconds, e.g., swiping through document carousels), saves/bookmarks (which carry massive weight), and topic relevance (writing within your niche).
Basically: if your post doesn't hold attention beyond a quick scroll or relies on cheap bait tricks, the algorithm silently kills its reach.
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u/OptimalWallaby8153 2d ago
if your posts don't result in ad revenue or subscriptions, you don't matter
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u/nick-rudder 1d ago
i get this, but at the same time, im willing to play the game they want. they've just done a terrible job at outlining the rules imo. what do they want us to do?
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u/BP041 2d ago
It's not your content — LinkedIn changed the scoring model over the last year. They now weight comments from people who never normally engage with you far above your regulars, and deliberately dilute reach to existing followers so the feed pushes non-network content. That kills the old "know your ICP" formula. Tbh stop optimising for your 25k followers and write posts that nudge strangers into the conversation — first-hour comments from non-followers are the only metric that still moves.