New LinkedIn? User Agreement: What Creators need to know & implement NOW

Dear Professional LinkedIn? User,

AI tools go far beyond generating generic comments. In fact, Chippy excels at data analysis. I asked him to compare LinkedIn?'s old and new terms of service, focusing on the "Do's and Don'ts" and "Licensing" sections—key areas for creators like us.

Why?

With so much misinformation circulating, it's crucial to know the facts. Can third-party tools really lead to losing access to your account? Absolutely—but not all tools are the same. LinkedIn? is tightening its rules on automation software and content scrapers, but these are not the only changes.

Did you know that as of November 20th, deep-linking to third-party status updates will be forbidden? I was just as surprised as you!

The analysis also revealed some intriguing changes, which I have distilled into 10 Best Practices for Content Creators. Disclaimer: This is not legal advice, just insights from my own experience.

Without further ado, let's dive into the action-packed, treasure-filled world of LinkedIn’s new Terms of Service!

User Agreement Update, effective November 20th 2024

As LinkedIn? evolves and continues to grow, the platform faces multiple challenges: AI comments and engagement bots try to game the algorithm, scraping and automation tool brazenly market their spammy lead generation services.

The updated version of LinkedIn?'s Terms of Service, effective November 20th 2024 is available for preview here. Blake Lawit , SVP and General Counsel, summed up the changes in this article. Here's my take:

1. Automated Tools and Engagement Bots

Changes: LinkedIn? now explicitly bans unauthorized automated methods that drive “inauthentic engagement,” including bots that create, comment, like, share, or re-share posts.

Impact on Best Practices: Creators relying on automation tools for engagement need to stop. Best practice now involves steering clear of any third-party tools that automate actions LinkedIn? prohibits. Focusing on genuine, organic engagement and maintaining personal control over likes, shares, and comments aligns with this rule.

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2. Third-Party Tools and Data Scraping

Changes: LinkedIn? has clarified and expanded its stance against “scraping or copying” profiles, content, or data using crawlers, browser plugins, or add-ons.

Impact on Best Practices: It's critical to ensure the tools we are using are compliant. Using compliant tools and avoiding plugins that extract data directly from LinkedIn?’s interface is key to protecting one’s account. If using any automation tool, double-check it doesn’t copy or scrape data outside of LinkedIn?’s terms.

3. Security and Privacy of Account Access

Changes: LinkedIn? prohibits “sharing log-in credentials or copying cookies,” tightening rules around account access.

Impact on Best Practices: Creators sharing their accounts with team members or using external login solutions should take note. Using LinkedIn?’s native account management features is a proven alternative for page and campaign manager access. For personal accounts that are managed by more than one party (C-level accounts), this might cause a problem, specifically when using different IP ranges.

4. Using Public Posts for Promotion

Changes: LinkedIn? now enforces restrictions on "deep-linking" to LinkedIn? posts without permission unless promoting one’s own profile or a LinkedIn? group. See 8.2.12: "Deep-link to our Services for any purpose other than to promote your profile or a Group on our Services, without LinkedIn’s consent;"

Impact on Best Practices: This limits creators’ ability to promote LinkedIn? posts on external websites or third-party platforms through deep links. Instead, best practice would involve promoting LinkedIn? content directly through LinkedIn?’s sharing features or embedding options, where available.

This translates to: You must not deep-link 3rd party status updates from your homepage / other social media channels. Seems specifically absurd considering that longform content (articles and newsletters) are indexed by Google. Since the update passage explicitely only mentions accounts and groups, an article link clearly falls into this category.

5. Spam and Content Integrity

Changes: LinkedIn? has reinforced rules around spam and manipulating algorithms.

Impact on Best Practices: Creators should avoid practices that might flag posts as spam or indicate algorithm manipulation, like overloading posts with repetitive keywords or over-tagging. Crafting meaningful, value-based content remains the best approach, as LinkedIn?’s algorithm rewards genuine engagement.

6. Content Ownership and Public Sharing Controls

Changes: LinkedIn? clarifies that "original content" belongs to the creator, while LinkedIn? gains broader rights to “publicly perform and display” and host the content.

Impact on Best Practices: This reaffirms that creators should be strategic about audience settings. If a post is marked "public," LinkedIn? may make it embeddable or accessible via search engines. Creators should ensure public posts align with their brand and are ready for broader visibility.

7. Content Modification

Changes: LinkedIn? now commits to avoid "materially modifying" content's meaning but may still edit for formatting (e.g., translation, file type changes).

Impact on Best Practices: While LinkedIn?’s modifications are minimal, creators should consider reviewing how LinkedIn?’s formatting changes might affect post appearance. For important posts, checking formatting on different devices may ensure the intended look and feel are maintained.

8. Service Availability by Geography and Subscription

Changes: LinkedIn? now explicitly states it may limit feature availability by geography or subscription level.

Impact on Best Practices: Creators using location-specific hashtags or targeting specific regions should verify how geographic availability may affect post reach. Until now, that language didn't impact availability, but this might be about to change as well.

9. Content Moderation

Changes: LinkedIn? has formalized its right to remove content that violates community policies, with clearer moderation guidelines linked.

Impact on Best Practices: This reinforces the need to follow LinkedIn?’s Professional Community Policies closely. For content creators, ensuring that posts adhere to these guidelines is critical, especially for controversial topics. Reviewing LinkedIn?’s updated moderation guidelines may help creators avoid unintentional policy violations.

10. Generative AI Features

Changes: LinkedIn? has introduced disclaimers on AI-generated content, suggesting creators verify AI-driven posts.

Impact on Best Practices: For creators leveraging LinkedIn?’s AI tools, it’s essential to treat AI outputs as drafts rather than final content. Editing AI-generated posts to ensure accuracy, relevance, and alignment with personal brand voice is now a best practice to avoid unintended issues.

For content creators, these updates mean stricter adherence to manual, authentic engagement, increased scrutiny of third-party tools, and reinforced security practices.

Focusing on organic reach, avoiding engagement hacks, and ensuring all tools used are LinkedIn?-approved are best practices that will help creators stay compliant while building trust and reach on the platform.

Overall, the changes encourage creators to maintain tighter control over post settings, format, and community guideline compliance. The introduction of AI-specific disclaimers signals LinkedIn?’s expectation that creators remain hands-on with their content, particularly if AI is involved in the creation process.

And that's it for this edition ...

... almost. Here's the final social selling joke:

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