Building Relationships by Joining the Conversations on LinkedIn

Engaging with content in your LinkedIn Feed is a smart way to build relationships, stay visible to potential employers, and learn from experienced professionals. Which is why more professionals than ever are engaging in high-value conversations on LinkedIn, with comments up 37% year-over-year.?

While engaging in content might seem obvious to some, it could also raise questions on which tools to use and why. Here are the basics to help you make the most of your LinkedIn Feed, along with a few product updates that make it easier to spark conversations with others:

React to a post

Reactions are the easiest, quickest way to interact with content on LinkedIn and show support to authors sharing in the Feed. Whether it’s a thumbs-up, love, applause, laugh, insightful, or other reactions – reactions let the person who shared the post know you found it valuable. Bonus: your reactions also help us at LinkedIn tailor your feed to show you more of the content you care about.??

Join the Conversation

While posts are a great way to share insights and knowledge, comments are where the real magic happens. Members from around the world come together to engage in conversations in the comments - sharing their own perspectives and insights building on the initial post, or having back and forth conversations with questions and ideas.?

By chiming into the conversation you can build a relationship with the author and others who are participating in the conversation - ask questions to gain new knowledge, or share your own insights for others to see.?

Joining in conversations in an authentic way can help you gain visibility from new audiences, and even lead to opportunities - the key here is showing genuine interest and curiosity. We’re seeing professionals like Brenna Lasky land brand deals from comments on LinkedIn, in addition to making connections with top industry CEOs, experts, and insiders.

Here are two types of ways people are using comments to join the conversation:?

• Learn more by asking questions: We are seeing members use the comments to follow up and clarify points. For example, we see questions being answered in the comments of a post from Jaylyn Jones about the job search.?
• Share personal insights or examples: Members are chiming in with their own insights or experiences in the comments. For example, Megan Lieu shared about why being let go from her job was actually a blessing, and people chimed in with their own experiences and learnings from similar situations. And, Bernadette Pawlik shares tips for running a Mock Interview, and the community shares other tips and guidance.?

Bonus: now we’ll show you how many impressions your comment is getting! This is helpful to see how joining the conversation can help you garner more visibility across the LinkedIn network. These are rolling out to members over the next few weeks.?

Share the Conversation

It goes beyond just reactions and comments, though. Conversations you see happening on LinkedIn can actually be great conversation starters with others. In addition to engaging with posts directly, you should also consider reposting or sending the content you see within the Feed with others who might find it valuable. This 1) ensures other people get to be part of the conversation too, and 2) gives you the perfect conversation starter and relationship builder with people within your network.

To help with this, we’ve recently made it easier for you to send posts to people on- and off- LinkedIn. Using the send button, you can share content as a direct message on LinkedIn, or to other social media or messaging platforms.?

Here are all the options for sharing content:

• Repost: Share the content as-is to your network. (Reactions or comments will go to the original post.)?
• Repost with your thoughts: Create a new post by sharing your own insights or commentary, while showcasing the original post.
• Share via Direct Message: Start a private conversation by sending the post to specific connections.
• Share on external sites: Share the content elsewhere by posting it on other social media platforms or by sending it directly to connections through messaging apps (like WhatsApp).?

Engaging with LinkedIn content—whether you’re reacting, commenting, reposting or sending — is a powerful way to nurture your network, stay top of mind for job opportunities, and learn from other professionals. By actively participating in yourLinkedIn Feed, you’re investing in your professional growth and career success.