Is LinkedIn The Hottest New/Old Thing?
Now, over 32 million people are using Bluesky as a possible replacement for X/Twitter. But experts believe LinkedIn is showing some exciting potential.
💬 Quick CONVERSATION STARTERS:
Today’s quote:
Subastck is “also attracting a lot of new people. (It’s like everyone at Medium and LinkedIn just got the memo.)”
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Do we like LinkedIn?
I’ve recently asked
, digital rockstar and author of a must-read newsletter here on Substack, ICYMI by Lia Haberman.Here’s what she told me:
LinkedIn has had a major glow-up. Creators are flocking to the platform; Gen Z is now its fastest-growing cohort; And business accounts are also shifting from X to LinkedIn. It’s fascinating to watch, though this shift has been building momentum for the past couple of years.
In this new iteration of LinkedIn as the "cool kids" platform, we’ve moved past the innovators and early adopters stage and are well into the early majority phase. If you want to capitalize on this growing attention, now is the time to act. Especially if you’re creating video for other platforms. Video is now the fastest growing format on LinkedIn, with uploads up 34% year-over-year.
In a winter 2024 newsletter, Lia mentioned: “The emergence — and continued rise — of LinkedIn as a new channel for creators in both B2B and B2C” as one of Big Ideas to Get Excited About In 2025, after interviewing 20+ creators, brand marketers, social strategists and industry leaders. (And we were honored to have included as well! Thank you Lia!)
Here what some experts told Lia about LinkedIn:
Conor Begley, Chief Strategy Officer at CreatorIQ: “The areas I am most excited about are the emergence of Linkedin as a new channel for creators in both B2B and B2C. I think it is highly under-leveraged by consumer executives today.”
Brett Dashevsky, Founder of Creator Economy NYC: “I'm also excited to see how LinkedIn evolves. I've been predicting three years in a row now that it's the next big place for content creators and I think we finally have hit that point.”
Creator Jayde Powell: “In 2025, I think we’ll see a new wave of platform features, tools, and programs designed for LinkedIn creators and influencers to monetize their content.”
Jenny Li Fowler, Director of Social Media Strategy at MIT: “LinkedIn and YouTube are going to see the most growth this coming year. The opportunities and organic conversations continue to expand in LinkedIn.”
Creator economy newsletter author
: “I'm excited about short-form videos on LinkedIn.”
Lindsey, author of the Lindsey Gamble’s Newsletter, also added LinkedIn to his Creator Economy Top 10 Trends of 2024, as “as a key platform for influencer marketing.”
He wrote: “LinkedIn’s role in influencer marketing is poised to grow even further in 2025, fueled by the rising interest in B2B influencer marketing. As brands collect data on what works, more effective strategies and clearer outcomes will emerge.”
Here on Substack, many are also expressing their thoughts on LinkedIn:
- : “People often ask me: Which is better for creators, LinkedIn or Substack? Here’s the thing—they’re not the same, and they’re not meant to be. They’re like two tools in a toolbox: LinkedIn is the hammer, Substack is the chisel.” (full post)
- : “When you have limited time and budget […] LinkedIn is the best place to be.” Here her top reasons: “It’s far less saturated; There are more decision-makers on there; Big organic reach is possible; Creative content shines; It’s faster and easier to see results.” (full post)
- : “LinkedIn’s new video feature could be a great opportunity for video content creators to stand out before it becomes saturated.” (read full post here)
- : “Video is LinkedIn’s rising star.” (full post)
- : “It is hard to argue with the fact that, for better or worse, LinkedIn has become a critical and perhaps unavoidable aspect of our professional lives. […] Everybody has to be there but nobody wants to be there.” (full post)
- : “I am focusing solely on three platforms: LinkedIn, Bluesky, and Substack. Right now, these platforms provide more meaningful interactions, both personally and professionally. Please connect with me on any, or all, of those.” (full post)
- : “LinkedIn is no longer just a place to advertise and search for jobs or show off about your latest award at work. Since the pandemic, LinkedIn has been going through somewhat of a transformation. It has evolved into a platform that you really should consider, regardless of your personal or business goals.” (full post)
Lara Acosta interviewed by
: “LinkedIn is in its golden era with high organic reach — take advantage of it.” (full post)- : “Building a strong personal brand there [LinkedIn] can open doors to job offers, collaborations, and even mentorships.” (full post)
- in : “What annoys me is that, despite claims from many of us that we “enjoy the platform because of everything we learn”, we really just want to reconfirm what we already know, making LinkedIn the most profitable echo chamber on the planet.” (full post)
- in Notes: “I’ve been off LinkedIn for 6 weeks, and I’ve missed... absolutely nothing.”
- in Notes: “I deleted my LinkedIn and getting rid of Threads before Christmas. I feel better already.”
An open letter to LinkedIn
Not everybody agrees with the direction the platform is taking and its potential for creators. LinkedIn expert Richard van der Blom has recently written an open letter to LinkedIn with what he calls “a genuine concern as I believe the platform is slipping.”
Here’s why he’s worried:
Feed Flooded with Nonsense
Automated Comments Are Killing Authenticity
Organic Reach is Tanking
Bullying & Toxic Behavior: Where’s the Accountability?
Automated Spam: A Plague on the Platform
Lack of Transparency: Your Platform, Your Rules, But Where’s the Respect?
“The mass exit has begun,”
and wrote in response to the open letter. “The messages are getting louder as growth is almost non-existent on LinkedIn, X, and Instagram. The old social sanctuaries we used to grow our businesses organically are now reserved for the lucky few, everyone else…”What about creators on LinkedIn?
Let’s start with the Forbes’ Top 50 Creators 2024… The 50 honorees “are riding the growth of the creator ecosystem (now estimated to be nearly 50 million people strong).” Forbes points out that “the influencer industry is estimated to be worth $250 billion today, and Goldman Sachs predicts the number will swell to nearly $500 billion by 2027.”
“This year’s listers earned almost $720 million over the last 12 months—a jump of $20 million from 2023,” Forbes explains. “Since last year, Forbes Top Creators have added more than 100 million followers to their collective total—now boasting more than 2.7 billion followers across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.”
Are Forbes’ Top Creators on LinkedIn?
We checked and noticed a few things:
Only 23 of Forbes’ Top Creators have a LinkedIn account
The only 4 labeled as Top Voices* — LinkedIn’s “invitation-only program featuring a global group of experts on LinkedIn covering a range of topics across the professional world, helping members uncover valuable knowledge relevant to them” — are Jimmy Donaldson (aka MrBeast), Josh Richards, Zach King, and Brooke Monk
8 are verified
MrBeast is the most followed with a bit over 200,000 followers, followed by Marques Brownlee with 43,250 followers, Zach King (42,000), Brooke Monk (26,500), Dhar Mann (21,500), Rachel Accurso (aka Ms Rachel, 8,700),
(7,900), and Josh Richards (7,450)Only Andre Rebelo (aka Typical Gamer), Josh Richards, Zach King, and Brooke Monk have posted on LinkedIn within the past month
Just 2 — Brooke Monk and Drea Okeke — added Forbes’ Top 50 Creators 2024 in their LinkedIn profile description
7 have yet to post anything on the platform
* As reported by , LinkedIn’s Top Voices badges have recently changed and the platform has retired the gold Community Top Voice badge (gold badge) — this label was earned automatically through contributions to collaborative articles. There are no changes to LinkedIn’s Top Voice (blue badge) program, which is invitation-only and led by their editorial team.
Does LinkedIn have an AI problem? Or is it an opportunity?
According to a new analysis shared exclusively with WIRED by the AI detection startup Originality AI, “over half of longer English-language posts on LinkedIn are AI-generated, indicating the platform’s embrace of AI tools has been a success.”
WIRED explains that “Originality AI scanned a sample of 8,795 public LinkedIn posts over 100 words long that were published from January 2018 to October 2024. For the first few years, the use of AI writing tools on LinkedIn was negligible. A major increase then occurred at the beginning of 2023.”
Jon Gillham, Originality AI CEO, points out that “the uptick happened when ChatGPT came out” with the number of likely AI-generated posts up 189%.
Some key takeaways from WIRED and Originality AI:
LinkedIn users who spoke to WIRED say that they rely more on general-purpose large language models to cobble their LinkedIn posts together rather than bothering with specialty AI tools.
Several non-native English speakers told WIRED they rely on AI tools to polish their English writing and fix grammar errors.
Writing with AI can be a controversial choice. Some writers and artists stridently oppose the use of large language models that have been trained on books, websites, and other works written by humans without permission or compensation.
On LinkedIn, some people who have embraced AI have received blowback as well.
From one angle, LinkedIn may have inadvertently created the ideal laboratory for AI writing. Nobody’s logging on expecting profundity, hilarity, or sincerity. It’s the place where people strive to be the most anodyne versions of themselves, pleasant and inoffensive. Artificiality, in other words, is what everyone is expecting.
Did you say video on LinkedIn? Yes, please… more!
As we saw in many comments from experts, video is rising on LinkedIn. In particular, as Lindsey Gamble pointed out, “new features, such as short-form videos and Thought Leader Ads have made LinkedIn fertile ground for influencer marketing.”
Nicholas Carlson, the former top editor of Business Insider, “is betting big on the growing popularity of video on platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and LinkedIn,”
reported earlier this month in the New York Times. “It will produce ‘cinematic’ video stories for those platforms […] focusing on business journalism for a core group of strivers that he calls ‘dynamos’. […] The average dynamo […] is an ambitious, career-oriented viewer who believes that business can explain the world.”The Times continues: “The company intends to take advantage of a video news product that is being developed by LinkedIn.”
In fact, according to LinkedIn, “video is now the fastest-growing content type” on the platform.”
And many agree!
“LinkedIn video is hot right now,”
writes in . “Reach rates are significant, which seems to be driven by dwell time and re-posts. Videos under 2 minutes perform best (but make sure it’s over 15 seconds long). Also be sure to include a caption, with a strong hook and an overall caption length of 50 words or more.”
Thanks for the mention! - LinkedIn is not a silver bullet for social growth or reach, and it certainly has its faults (like any other platform), but for now it’s still a good place to be on for anyone in business.