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📌 Tuesday November 26

• Swap the Biz | $95-$995

• Business Networking - Rise and Prosper | $5

📌 Friday November 29

• Tech Hiring Session | $0-$200

• Silicon Valley Bootstrappers Breakfast | $10

• The Empowered Entrepreneur Mastermind | $26

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• Circle of Connection | $20

News You Can Actually Use 📰

🚪 LinkedIn’s Latest Connection? The Unemployment Line
Even the pros are feeling the pinch. LinkedIn, Microsoft's professional networking titan, recently trimmed 1% of its workforce—around 200 employees—as declining ad sales hit revenue streams. Is the network of professionals losing its edge, or just bracing for a leaner future?

 🤖 Your Profile Just Got a New Job: Training LinkedIn’s AI
Your LinkedIn profile is more than just a resume—it’s now a training ground for AI. Microsoft’s professional network is quietly mining your data, and if you’re not into playing lab rat, here’s how to pull the plug.

🧐 Linkedin’s Ugly Side: Reinforcing Discrimination?
Research suggests LinkedIn’s algorithm may be stacking the deck against certain groups, reinforcing discrimination instead of leveling the playing field. Is the “opportunity” platform really playing fair?

🤗 Fleeing Elon’s ‘X’? Mastodon’s Arms Are Wide Open
Disillusioned by the chaos at X, users are flocking to Mastodon. The decentralized platform is thriving as a refuge for the fed-up, promising conversation without the drama.

Shower Thoughts 👀

Is Linkedin Even Worth It Anymore?

Last week, I wrote about Linkedin changing their algorithm which included limiting the amount of connection requests and messages we’re able to send on the platform. This was all in an effort to reduce the amount of spam people are sending and receiving. Great. But, for people who actually use automation tools to save time and generate more leads, not so great.

For those of you who are curious, here’s what changed: 

Talk about a major setback! Not only did this affect me but I can only imagine how many other people in the world who use Linkedin like this as their primary source for leads.

As if that blow wasn’t traumatic enough, this past week I noticed a significant drop in organic impressions and engagement. Now, I’ve been posting consistently for the past 6 months trying to build up my audience and reach more people (granted a few 1-2 days off). For transparency, here’s what I’m looking at:

I knew it was going to be a little bit tougher than it was a few years ago and anticipated it taking longer to build up momentum but damn is this demotivating.

I’ve been spending so much time writing posts, diversifying content, testing, engaging etc. I would at least expect to see some sort of momentum building with the amount of effort I’m putting in and time I’m spending on the platform. But, here we are complaining about it. 

So, I figured I’d ask around to see if it’s just a me thing and here’s what I found: 

Without posting multiple screenshots of everyones thoughts and comments in those 11 replies to my post, it safe to assume they’re all seeing the same thing.

So, I figured I’d dig a little bit deeper to see exactly what I’m dealing with here. Let’s start from the beginning.

⚡️Timeline of Linkedin Algorithm Updates⚡️

February 2024: Emphasis on Quality Expertise and Quality Engagement. Facors posts that showcase professional expertise and encourages meaningful interactions. This update placed a greater emphasis on comments and shares over likes. Shocker!

May 2024: Introduction of AI-Driven Features. Linkedin integrated AI to generate career advice articles and daily puzzles to increase user engagement and establish daily usage habits (as if we don’t already spend enough time on the platform). They also refined the feed algorithm to present users with more personalized and relevant content balancing posts from connections with suggested content or in other words, what they want us to see.

October 2024: Focus on professionalism and content authority. Now, the algorithm prioritizes authentic professional content and discourages posts that mimic styles from other social platforms like TikTok.

Wait, didn’t they just release a whole new video feed like TikTok back in March?!?

Sure, but those who are already Linkedin-famous and top voices are the only ones who stand a chance to spread their faces far and wide. Everyone else who’s just testing the waters or starting out…good luck!

As for this newly implemented AI algorithm, it detects examples of spam which are defined by Linkedin as:

• Emoji’s

• Reaction polls designed to artificially boost engagement

• Chain letters

• Requests for likes, reactions, and shares

• Excessive, irrelevant, or repetitive comments or messages

• Outbound links

Then, it goes through a little process that looks like this👇

But, wait, there’s more!

After it goes through this process, then WHO it’s shown to is determined by each individuals…let’s just call it “bubble” since that’s what they’re keeping us in nowadays.

Our Linkedin bubble is determined by 3 things:

1) Who/What you engage with on your feed

2) Who/What you search for

3) Jobs you look at

Now, you might want to click on that link and read up because there’s WAY more to it and it’s truly a mindf*ck.

At this point, I’m far enough down the rabbit hole that I’m just going to settle on Linkedin being an overly complex system that is pretty much out of our control and takes up too much time. Even the newbs don’t understand it -

But, let’s keep digging!

Once you go through those hoops then you have to go through 3 more into the “feed signals”. Now, these signals are what determines our feed and they are 🥁

1) Identity - First-degree connections see more but it also factors in who you’ve interacted with, your skills and location.

2) Content - Well, sh*t. Here comes the relevancy! These signals include things like:

• How many times was the content viewed?

• How many times did you react to it?

• What is the content about?

• How old is it?

• Is it just knowledge or professional advice?

• Is it from someone you’re connected to or follow?

• What language is it in?

• Is it constructive?

• Will it lead to future high-quality content?

• What companies, people, or topics are mentioned?

3) Member Activity - Linkedin determines a users interests based our engagement with the content. Specifically:

• What we’ve reacted to and shared in the past

• Who do we interact with the most frequently or recently

• Where we spend most of our time in the feed

• Which hashtags (wait, those are still important?) we follow

• What, pages and people we follow.

• Who our connections are

• What types of topics we’re interested in

• Who follows us

• What actions other people have taken on our posts.

• How long has it been since those actions took place. Jesus, am I on a witness stand or something?

In simpler terms, users will see more content on topics they’ve engaged with in the past and from people they engage with most frequently. 

Other than sponsored posts, which they say is clearly labeled as such, our feeds are not influenced by payments from third parties to Linkedin.

Yea - ok. I’m sure there’s enough “top voices” who they favor that will lean a little to the left or to the right for a price. 🤑

Moral of the story…

So, is Linkedin still worth it? That’s a judgement call you’re going to have to make.

I think there’s still a lot of value in using automation tools to generate targeted lists, automate outreach and land in peoples DM’s even if there are stricter limits. If you want more profile views and organic content in the feed isn’t spreading your message far and wide then spend more time behind the scenes.

I’m not saying stop creating organic content completely but, maybe explore and test a few other

Personally, I’d rather not even deal with creating content or trying to beat the algorithm.

In fact, I’d rather just have a 1-to-1 live conversation with 20+ human beings in an hour who are more likely to help me reach my goals faster than AI. 🙃

BLKBOOK is designed to take the guesswork out of networking by connecting you directly with the right people at the right time. Instead of chasing likes and views, we focus on meaningful, face-to-face conversations that lead to real opportunities.

No spam, no bots, no public info, no content-based algorithm or “feed” keeping you in a bubble.

Join BLKBOOK today and start building connections that matter.

So What Do You Do In The Meantime?

Well, if there’s anything we just learned, it’s this:

The influence of AI in the algorithm doesn’t just determine the quality of your content and who it gets shown to, it manipulates the content that everyone sees in their feed and now it’s learning from all the information we feed it.

Those short “This is great!”, “Thanks for sharing”, “Commenting for reach”, “Let me repeat a summary of what your post is about as a comment BS” isn’t going to do anything for anyone.

If the AI is searching for real personal connections and authentic conversations, then you need to put in even more thought, time and effort into not only your posts but also those comments. Like 15+ words or more.

Those posting and ghosting days are over. If you’re not going to engage right after you make a post, don’t event bother showing up. The algorithm is looking for sparks not duds.

With overall lower reach(-35%) and engagement (-20%) compared to a year ago, it’s safe to say document and text based content is loosing effectiveness. Linkedin is in their TikTok feels and only wants to see interactive video formats.

Here’s a few other random tips that might help:

• If you have an SSI score of 70 or above, you’ll increase your reach by 25%.

• Create backlinks to your profile.

• Use 3-5 hashtags that repeatedly use target keywords.

• Optimize your profile with relevant keywords. Add them in your headline, profile URL, About section, and job history.

• Build smart connections with people in your industry.

• Get recommendations and skill endorsements.

Good Luck! ✌️