Original source: Nemanja Zivkovic
This video from Nemanja Zivkovic covered a lot of ground. Streamed.News selected 8 key moments and summarises them here. Everything below links directly to the timestamp in the original video.
LinkedIn's new algorithm redefines what it means to be influential on the platform. Your entire history, not just your latest viral post, now determines your reach.
LinkedIn Algorithm Shifts to Evaluate Creator Identity, Abandoning Single-Action Metrics
The fundamental mechanics of LinkedIn's content distribution are undergoing a significant transformation with the introduction of the "360 Brew" algorithm. This new system moves away from rewarding isolated, high-engagement actions—such as a viral post—and instead evaluates a creator's entire body of work and consistent online persona. By processing a user's complete history of posts, comments, and interactions as natural language, the algorithm builds a holistic understanding of a creator's "identity" and ongoing "practice." This approach is designed to render superficial tactics, like engagement bait or one-off memes, ineffective at manipulating platform reach.
What this signifies is a strategic pivot by LinkedIn towards fostering authentic, long-term expertise over fleeting virality. The question is no longer what a user did once, but who they are consistently. For professionals and businesses, this change necessitates a more deliberate and coherent content strategy, as the platform will now prioritize and reward thematic consistency and demonstrated authority over time. This represents a structural shift in the digital political economy of professional networking, placing a premium on sustained intellectual contribution rather than tactical maneuvering.
"LinkedIn moved from measuring what you did once to measuring who you are as a creator, meaning consistently every day, over time, across every single piece of content and every single piece of the platform."
LinkedIn's Algorithm Now Weighs 'Hidden Signals' Like Dwell Time and Private DMs
The new LinkedIn algorithm assesses user engagement through a series of "hidden signals" that extend beyond visible metrics like likes and comments. Among the most crucial indicators are the amount of time a user spends reading a post (dwell time), the professional standing of individuals who save the content, and the depth of conversation threads in the comments. Furthermore, the system analyzes cross-platform activity, such as participation in groups and events, and even negative signals like a user actively hiding or blocking certain pages, which it interprets as a sign of selectivity and credibility.
It is important to understand that these metrics collectively construct a more nuanced profile of a user's influence and the true resonance of their content. The inclusion of private direct messages (DMs) as a strong signal of deep engagement is particularly noteworthy, as it moves a key component of relationship-building from a private channel into a factor for public visibility. This algorithmic architecture incentivizes not just public performance but the cultivation of genuine professional relationships, subtly reshaping the platform's social and economic functions toward deeper, more meaningful interactions.
"Private DMs, follow-ups—it's a signal of a deep engagement. Somebody reads your post and they send you a message... Those are signals of deep engagement."
▶ Watch this segment — 1:06:56
LinkedIn's 360 Brew Algorithm Rewards Thematic Consistency and Interconnected Content
To succeed under LinkedIn's new 360 Brew algorithm, creators must adopt a strategy of thematic consistency, focusing on two to three core, interconnected topics. Much like a basketball coach who designs plays that build upon and intersect with one another, a user's content should create a compounding effect where each post reinforces their established expertise. The system rewards this "surround sound" approach, where a user's contributions across various formats—posts, comments, live events—coalesce into a clear, authoritative voice on a specific subject, thereby building trust and mindshare with their target audience.
The underlying principle here is a move towards rewarding the creation of durable intellectual capital. The emphasis on content that gets "saved" is particularly telling; the algorithm interprets saves as a signal of evergreen, reference-quality material. What this means is that LinkedIn will resurface such content for weeks, granting it long-term visibility. This fundamentally alters the content lifecycle, shifting the incentive from producing ephemeral, high-frequency updates to crafting substantive, enduring pieces that serve as a lasting resource for a professional community.
"When somebody saves your post, in the eyes of the algorithm, you are a god to them. That's the main metric today."
Engagement Quality Eclipses Network Size as Key Metric for LinkedIn Reach
Under the new algorithmic regime at LinkedIn, the sheer size of a user's network has become a subordinate factor to the quality of engagement within it. A large network of inactive or unengaged connections is now a liability, as the algorithm interprets a low engagement rate as a sign of low relevance, thereby diminishing a post's reach. Consequently, a smaller, highly interactive audience is far more valuable. Users are now incentivized to prune their networks, removing connections who do not actively participate in their content's ecosystem.
It is important to understand what constitutes "quality" engagement in this context. The system prioritizes depth over breadth: long comment threads that foster discussion, cross-referencing insights between different posts, and follow-up conversations in private direct messages. The rule that prized engagement within the first 90 minutes of posting is now obsolete; the algorithm is concerned with who engages and how they engage, not when. This change reflects a more sophisticated model of influence, one based on substantive dialogue rather than superficial metrics or temporal hacks.
"10,000 connections who never engage, you are invisible to them... You need to remove people who don't engage."
Content 'Saves' Emerge as a Critical Signal for Long-Term Visibility on LinkedIn
Within LinkedIn's 360 Brew algorithm, the act of a user saving a post has been elevated to a primary metric of content value. When a post is saved, the system interprets it not as a fleeting piece of content, but as "reference material" with enduring utility. This signals to the algorithm that the content is evergreen and holds long-term relevance for a professional audience. Creating content designed to be saved is now a key strategy for creators seeking sustained visibility on the platform.
The implications of this focus on 'saves' are significant for content strategy. Unlike likes or comments which signal immediate engagement, a save triggers a long-term distribution loop. LinkedIn will continue to resurface saved content in users' feeds for weeks, extending its reach far beyond the typical lifespan of a social media post. This mechanism rewards creators who produce substantive, instructional, or foundational content over those who focus on news-cycle-driven or ephemeral commentary, fundamentally altering the economic incentives of content production on the network.
"When someone saves your post, 360 Brew interprets it as reference material. It means that your post is deemed valuable for the future use, right? So you create evergreen content."
LinkedIn Virality Now Requires Established Credibility, Not One-Off Spikes
The pathway to achieving viral reach on LinkedIn has been fundamentally altered. Under the new system, a one-off, high-engagement post from an unknown or inconsistent creator is no longer sufficient to trigger widespread distribution. Instead, virality is now predicated on a pre-existing foundation of credibility and trust. The algorithm is designed to reward consistent creators who have already established a pattern of high-quality contributions within a specific domain. A post goes viral not on its own merits alone, but because the creator has earned the authority for it to do so.
The question then becomes how to leverage tools like artificial intelligence in this new environment. AI can be effectively utilized for foundational tasks such as structuring outlines, conducting research, and formatting content. However, the core of the post—its unique insights, personality, and perspective—must remain distinctly human. It is essential that every piece of content contains at least one sentence that only the author could write, ensuring authenticity. AI should be viewed as an assistant that provides a framework, not a substitute for the human voice that builds the very credibility the algorithm seeks to reward.
"New viral is basically a consistent creator with established credibility and earned trust. So you do that and then one of your posts might go viral."
▶ Watch this segment — 1:03:43
Inactive 'Lurker' Followers Now Penalize LinkedIn Creators' Reach
A large following of silent observers, or "lurkers," can now actively harm a creator's visibility on LinkedIn. The platform's algorithm evaluates relevance not by follower count, but by the ratio of active engagement to total audience size. A high number of followers who never interact with content signals to the model that the material is of low relevance. This interpretation can negatively impact the content's overall reach, effectively punishing creators for having a passive audience.
What this means is that network hygiene has become a critical component of a successful LinkedIn strategy. It is now more advantageous to have a smaller, highly engaged audience of 500 active participants than a large, silent one of 5,000. Creators are advised to regularly "clean" their networks by unfollowing or removing inactive connections. This strategic pruning ensures that the engagement-to-follower ratio remains high, signaling strong relevance to the algorithm and ultimately expanding, rather than diminishing, the creator's reach and impact.
"Lurkers, while seemingly harmless, can actually diminish your perceived relevance to the algorithm... 5,000 silent followers results in reduced visibility."
▶ Watch this segment — 1:09:12
LinkedIn Success Redefined by Deep Engagement Metrics Like Comment Depth and DMs
Success on LinkedIn is now quantified by a new set of metrics that prioritize deep, meaningful interaction over superficial engagement. The key performance indicators for the algorithm include the number of times content is saved, the depth of comment threads, the volume of private direct messages (DMs) a post generates, and the total time users spend reading the content. These signals, combined with cross-industry engagement and the rate at which content is resurfaced over time, form the basis of a creator's relevance score.
It is important to understand that many of these critical signals are not publicly visible. Private DMs, in particular, are highlighted as a powerful hidden indicator of influence, demonstrating that a post has successfully moved a reader from public consumption to a private conversation. This represents a significant shift in the platform's value system, rewarding content that builds relationships and sparks genuine dialogue rather than simply accumulating public-facing vanity metrics. The strategic imperative is clear: foster conversations, not just clicks.
▶ Watch this segment — 1:18:09
Summarised from Nemanja Zivkovic · 1:19:09. All credit belongs to the original creators. Nemanja Zivkovic Newspaper summarises publicly available video content.
