LinkedIn has done it again.
Every quarter, LinkedIn’s parent company Microsoft posts its performance update, which outlines all of its various tech projects and elements, and how they’ve fared over the preceding three months.
And every time, without fail, in literally every update on LinkedIn’s performance since 2018 (except one), in virtually every report since it acquired the platform, Microsoft has reported the exact same thing:
“LinkedIn saw record levels of engagement.”
Which seems impossible, right? Surely LinkedIn can’t be seeing “record levels” of engagement every single quarter. Right?
What about the Christmas period, LinkedIn’s seeing “record levels” of engagement then, over and above regular interaction? I mean, sure, LinkedIn’s always adding more users (or members at least), and that should lead to more interaction and engagement. But LinkedIn also lost 54 million users when it shut down its app in China back in 2021, which, you would assume, would have had some impact on this element.
Surely it can’t be setting a new record for engagement in the app every single quarter.
Right?
With that in mind, let’s see what Microsoft has reported in its latest earnings update?
Oh wow, what a surprise. LinkedIn saw a 9% increase in overall revenue, and 7% sessions growth, with “record engagement.”
Cool cool, all makes sense, record levels. Sure.
Of course, these are only surface-level stats, and we don’t have enough to go on to make a real assessment of LinkedIn’s actual activity levels. As such, we also don’t know what “sessions growth” actually relates to without a reference point, though in its accompanying earnings call, LinkedIn did also note that comments are up over 30%, and video uploads have increased by more than 20% this year.
So, more direct interactions, while video has become a much bigger consideration for LinkedIn users.
LinkedIn also recently reported that videos are 20x more likely to be shared in the app, while video content also generates 1.4x more engagement than other post types.
Worth considering in your approach.
In terms of overall growth, LinkedIn has also reported that it’s now up to 1.2 billion members, rising from the billion that it reported in July last year.
Of course, as always, it’s worth noting that “members” and “active users” are two different things, and on that front, LinkedIn’s active usage is more likely around 400 million monthly users.
But it sounds good, I guess. “Record levels” of engagement, “1.2 billion members.” It sounds better than “slight increase in engagement” and “400 million MAU.” And Microsoft isn’t obligated to report anything further, so it’s not like it’s doing anything wrong, it just seems a little unclear, and potentially misleading as to LinkedIn’s actual performance.
That’s also become a point of contention among LinkedIn users, who have reported seeing more and more examples of automated engagement, and engagement pod activity in the app.
Engagement pods are coordinated groups of users that work together to comment, like and engage with each other’s posts, in order to boost their reach via platform algorithms. And like other social apps, there’s a range of platforms and offerings that provide LinkedIn pods as a service, and LinkedIn users have provided data to SMT which shows that artificial engagement activity like this is fairly common in the app.
The scale of such is relative. Thousands of posts that see artificial engagement activity, based on millions of active users, may not be as significant as it might seem to the individual user. But there are clearly a lot of artificial engagements happening in the app, which are getting harder to detect due to the adoption of AI tools to create such.
Combine that with LinkedIn coaches who encourage users to comment and engage as much as they can in the app, in order to increase their visibility, which in itself could indirectly contribute to engagement pod activity, and this is a difficult challenge to police, though LinkedIn tells me that it is working to address it.
I spoke to LinkedIn about the concerns with engagement pods and automated engagement, and its team is well aware of the concern, and is actively working to improve its detection and enforcement measures. LinkedIn says that it reduces the reach of such activity when detected, while it’s also looking to educate creators on how, and why they should avoid such activity.
In addition, LinkedIn says that its actively taking action against engagement pods that violate its Terms of Service through behaviors like automation. And while some of this activity is difficult for LinkedIn itself to enforce, given that such programs are often coordinated off-platform, it is aware of the engagement pod services that it exist, which is another area it’s exploring.
It couldn’t provide in-depth insight into its plans on this front, but LinkedIn has been pursuing legal action against other services for different violations of its usage terms, and at least some of these engagement pod groups could soon be in its sights on this front as well.
But essentially, LinkedIn is aware of the concern. And while it may be frustrating for LinkedIn users who are seeking to build their presence the right way, and it may seem like LinkedIn isn’t doing enough to address it (because, as some have suggested, LinkedIn benefits from the resulting engagement), LinkedIn is aware of the problem, and it is looking to address such misuse.
Microsoft has also made note of LinkedIn’s evolving AI tools, with the platform looking to “bring AI to every part of the LinkedIn experience, introducing agents across hiring as well as sales.”
Agents are part of LinkedIn’s next big AI push, with AI bots that can undertake tasks on your behalf, while LinkedIn has also added a range of generative AI elements to the post and profile creation process.
Which probably also ties back into the broader concerns with artificial engagement in the app, and could be another factor clouding LinkedIn’s enforcement of this element. But with Microsoft investing big into OpenAI, it’s keen to add AI everywhere that it can, and as such, LinkedIn is inevitable also going to see an increase in AI generated interaction.
Overall, however, LinkedIn’s performance seems pretty solid, with more engagement, particularly with video content, though concerns to be addressed with fake interactions. But LinkedIn remains the key platform for professional connection, and amidst tougher economic conditions, it will continue to be an increasingly relevant and valuable tool for such.
Thanks to Elliot Grossbard for providing additional data for this story.
