LinkedIn is updating the algorithm

Linkedin has announced that the algorithm is changing. I'm going to tell you the five things it says it is doing, then I'm going to suggest a few things it could do for #HigherEd.

Here are the five things LinkedIn says it is doing.

1. Orienting your feed around what matters to you.

This is table stakes, and also marketing speak to mean something like, we'll deliver content you like. They say:

you’ll see more posts from people who matter most to you. For example, people you know (your connections) so you never miss an opportunity to nurture those relationships when they hit professional milestones or when there’s an opportunity to support or reconnect with them.

This is basically what Facebook did a few years ago, giving you content from people you interacted with. So if you interact with the guy you used to work with, expect more content from him. Also, if he gets a new job. (I think this means most people still use LinkedIn to update their resume, and not make a newsletter like I did.)

2. Better search.

I've been talking about LinkedIn for work for a long time. This is a presentation from 2010 called, "How to use LinkedIn." I used to call LinkedIn a people and skills search engine. They even launched an app once wherein you could search for skills in your company. It was amazing. I used it all the time to find students skilled in Final Cut Pro or social media.

They took it away, and LinkedIn has never been a skills search engine. Other than searching for people on LinkedIn, I've never searched for knowledge on this platform. I know it is here, I just don't know how to access it. Maybe this will fix it.

I once wrote:

"you can search on Google for “plumber” because it will geolocate the closest plumbers. But if you seek an attorney, consultant or other professional, then geography isn’t always on the top of the list. But Google will care about geography."

As a 100% remote company, this really rings true. We have experts all over the country. Internally, I strongly advocate for adding skills. It also seems like writing about what you know could be helpful.

3. Using AI to make more content.

They call this "unlocking" the knowledge. From them:

First, we publish conversation starters, powered by AI and by our editorial team. Then, we identify skilled experts and invite them to come together to collaboratively add their insights and anecdotes.

As I said, add skills. Maybe they will call on you. (LinkedIn has never called on me.)

4. Suggested posts

So this is the biggest thing. LinkedIn is a follow/connect platform. We see content from places we follow and people we are connected with. So we curate our own feeds. A couple of exceptions to this are the schools we attended, and the places we work. LinkedIn has us follow them automatically.

To read this newsletter, for example, you first have to subscribe. To see my posts, you first have to follow me. To see 3E posts, you first have to follow 3E.

This is changing and for the better. I don't really have a sense of the knowledge in my connections. But I'm eager to learn more about things, and so I'm excited that LinkedIn will show me things that sync with my perceived skills.

I've long argued that LinkedIn should show alumni posts to other alumni. They should show faculty posts to people who attended the school but aren't connected to the professor.

We seem to be moving agonizingly closer to this.

5. Content controls

This is Tom Cruise yelling into the phone to "help me help you!" Tell us what you want, and we'll deliver it to you!! Think I'm exaggerating? Here is what they say:

Your Feed should?only?show you content and topics that matter most to you professionally. To ensure it is most relevant to you, we need your help.

This is a good start. As much as I kid LinkedIn, it is many things, and this change can help it be better. Here are some other things that could make it even better.

It is a better "about us" page than anyone can make.

Seriously, if LinkedIn let us add the People section of the company page to our website, I would do it in 30 minutes.

Most higher ed sites have terrible faculty bios. LinkedIn bios could solve the problem of a bio on a .edu being 10 years old. A college or university is full of people. Try finding them on the .edu.

It is the greatest collection of higher education outcomes ever assembled.

It is a self-updated roadmap of what can you do with an English degree! It is an argument for the Liberal Arts. It is flat-out amazing. And one time, LinkedIn allowed anyone to embed the alumni tool on a website. We had the alumni tool on every department page of Colgate until LinkedIn took it away. Every school would want it, even though most don't even know it is there.

It is a B2B marketer's dream.

All the things we think about B2B, people buy from people, people seek expertise, and people want to see results. These can all be found on a Company Page. When 3E launched, I strongly advocated for many things to help our company grow on this platform. As of this writing, we have 6794 followers on our company page, and it is a HUGE part of our marketing.

A VP of Enrollment at our 2023 launch told us that "3E owns LinkedIn." It truly is an awesome place to tell the story of who we are and what we do.

LinkedIn continues to be my favorite of the social platforms for marketing. Even for marketing a college. It is underutilized – I'm always introducing the alumni tool to enrollment professionals. It can be so much more, and my hope is this algorithm change gets us closer.

What do you think? Are you excited about this change?

We'll be talking about this and more at The Institute for Higher Education. If you want to attend, I have discount codes.