LinkedIn has decided to restrict the reach of several types of posts in user feeds. In addition, it has agreed to update its algorithm and ranking of content to ensure that the users get improved relevancy in their feed.
The users on LinkedIn are currently bothered by the low quality, irrelevant, political and engagement baiting content. The users have also been observed to witness excessive polls. Therefore, LinkedIn will offer controls to the platform users for their preferred content choices to achieve the targeted approach.
For the past six consecutive quarters, LinkedIn has been reporting the peak levels of engagement growth. And as the pandemic is being washed down, the interactions on LinkedIn seem to have picked up some traction. However, as the platform does serve the attention economy, it gets utilized for 'growth hacks' and algorithm manipulation to get the maximum content performance. While one may consider these practices fair to achieve brand awareness goals, when these tricks become the trend to be followed by the masses, it negatively affects the user experience.
LinkedIn has started to make the following changes in its feeds.
What users can get control over:
"I don't want to see this" option: Users will be able to opt out of the irrelevant content from their feed if they come across it. In addition, the three dots of any post will let the users submit feedback about that post.
"I don't want to see Political Content" option: As it suggests, users can report the political content and choose not to see such content. Currently, this option will be provided to the users in the U.S.
In the LinkedIn blog post for these recent updates by Linda Leung Director of Product Management at LinkedIn, she states:
"We heard from some of you that you don't want to see political content. To fix this, we're testing a way to give you the option to reduce political content in your feed. While we're only testing currently in the U.S., based on feedback we receive, we may further develop the feature and expand it to more regions and languages."
Source: LinkedIn
What users will see more of in their feed:
Updated and relevant content from the user's network: LinkedIn will focus on filtering out the content which is not of interest to the user. For someone seeing a comment congratulating someone's job change may not be helpful; such interactions in one's feed will be reduced.
"Staying up to date on your network is a key part of the feed, but that doesn't mean you need (or want!) to see all the activity from every single one of your connections. For example, you may not get a lot of value from seeing a connection's comment on someone else's post about a job change if you don't know that other person. That's why we'll be showing you more targeted activity from your network, and where you'll be more likely to join the conversation, too."
LinkedIn Blogpost
News and insights: The users will see more information-rich content coming from industry experts and thought leaders. LinkedIn says they have been told by many that the platform audience cares to hear from the industry leaders and experts to get useful insights.
What users will see less of in their feed:
Low-quality content: Misleading engagement baiting content will be hammered down, and it will not get any help from the LinkedIn algorithm.
"We've seen a number of posts that expressly ask or encourage the community to engage with content via likes or reactions – posted with the exclusive intent of boosting reach on the platform. We've heard this type of content can be misleading and frustrating for some of you. We won't be promoting this type of content and we encourage everyone in the community to focus on delivering reliable, credible and authentic content.", from LinkedIn Blogpost.
Unprofessional interactions/conversations: To ensure a constructive environment on the platform, LinkedIn is investing in the teams, tools, and technology to add value to the user's professional journey.
LinkedIn said in its blogpost,
"We work hard to keep the conversations and content on your feed safe and constructive to deliver the best possible experience for you. This includes taking action on content and profiles that violate our Professional Community Policies."
And lastly, the polls: LinkedIn has received somewhat discouraging feedback regarding polls from the community. Therefore, LinkedIn will ensure only to display the relevant polls to the users.
LinkedIn has promised to improve the content quality and experience on the platform. In the concluding remark, the LinkedIn Blogpost states:
"We look forward to sharing more updates on how we're improving the content quality experience, so that you continue to have a safe, productive, and trusted experience whenever you come to LinkedIn."