You Need to Focus on Your Feed

The more time you spend on an app, the more actions you will take on it. If you are on Facebook for large parts of the day, you will know more about that relative’s life than someone who uses Facebook only for 30 mins a day. It then logically follows that the more time you spend on LinkedIn, the more informed you will be on current trends in your industry. This, in turn, helps you to make more educated comments and participate more actively in your network. Ultimately, that is how you grow an engaged following.

Think about how much time you spend on Facebook every day. Now compare that to how much time you spend on LinkedIn. The chances are that you are spending triple the time on Facebook as compared to LinkedIn. The reason is obvious. Facebook is so much more entertaining, while LinkedIn is only for boring work. Now take a step back and think about it — Should you be spending so much more time on leisure, instead of professional development? I say you don’t have to choose, all you have to do is to make LinkedIn fun! Here are three tips so you can build a relatable feed that you can’t stop checking.

Tip number one: Choose your follows wisely. 
You go on Facebook to catch up on the latest happening in all your friend’s life. It is a quick way to catch up on things going on in your social circle. Simply put, you check Facebook because the content is personal. You have had the luxury to simply transfer your offline friendships onto Facebook, which makes more than 80% of the content on your feed about someone you know. The same goes for LinkedIn. Rather than a random post in someone’s professional life, you want to see insights and updates that excite you. Declutter your feed by following accounts that post value-added content. One way to do this is to look through that account’s recent activities before deciding if you want to follow. Evaluate if they consistently provide the content you care about and can interact with. If you need some suggestions on what to follow, updates on industry trends, educational resources, thought leadership, or peer dialogues are generally great for making your feed irresistible. Don’t go overboard though, as LinkedIn recommends a list of around 50 sources to be ideal.

Tip number two, Connect, and Unfollow. 
I have a habit of connecting with every person I met professionally to build my network. This habit has driven a lot of endorsements and recommendations for me, but it is not without flaws. There are times when I get lost in the sea of information flooding my feed, and instead of searching for the content I want, I just close my LinkedIn app. I knew I had to do something about this before I lose interest in LinkedIn for good, and the solution was simple. The platform understands that there are times you value the connection but just isn’t that interested in what he says. By choosing to unfollow him, you still stay in touch with your contact, while cutting away irrelevant updates. Another tip is to hide posts that you are not interested in, as it feeds Linkedin’s algorithms and allows them to get a better sense of the type of content you prefer. This feedback helps them better decide which updates to show you in the future.

Tip number 3, Engage. 
Ever had one of those experiences where that hotel you were just telling your friends about pop up on your Facebook feed? That is an example of targeted content, where the platform analyses your interactions to determine what kind of material to serve you next. While hiding posts help push away updates you don’t like and keep them away from your timeline, you can also react more positively by showing what you want instead. One of the best indicators of your engagement is when you like, comment, or share posts. This action sends a powerful signal to LinkedIn to continue putting those content on your feed. To access content that you can then engage with, use hashtags to find interesting and wide-ranging conversations to your feed. LinkedIn allows you to follow a hashtag as well, which could serve to bring you a broader perspective with different voices, in the same area of interest.

With the above three tips, you should be able to curate a feed that tickles your interest. That is a massive step in your journey on LinkedIn, as that means higher engagement from you, which in turn will lead to more meaningful connections on LinkedIn. Moreover, interacting with the right posts also puts you across as a thoughtful professional. With a healthy feed, you will never worry about having no content to interact with again!