Your LinkedIn posts are getting fewer views than they did last year.

You’re not imagining it.

According to recent data, organic views on LinkedIn are down 50% compared to 2024. Engagement has dropped 25%. Follower growth is down 59%. If you’ve felt like you’re shouting into the void lately, there’s a reason.

LinkedIn changed. Significantly.

But here’s the thing - the changes aren’t random, and they’re not designed to punish you. LinkedIn is actually rewarding something very specific now. And if you’re a course creator or educator, you might have a built-in advantage you don’t even realize.

Let me break down what’s ACTUALLY happening with the algorithm in 2026, and how to work with it instead of against it.

The Algorithm’s New Obsession: “Depth Score”

Forget likes. Forget comment counts. LinkedIn has moved on.

The biggest change in 2026 is something called “Depth Score” - a metric that measures how LONG people actually engage with your content. Not whether they clicked. Not whether they dropped a quick emoji reaction. How long they stayed.

This is a massive shift from how things used to work.

In previous years, the algorithm primarily tracked surface-level engagement. Likes, shares, comment counts. This led to an explosion of engagement bait - those posts designed to game the system with shallow interactions rather than genuine value.

LinkedIn got wise to that.

Now, they’re measuring dwell time - how long someone spends reading your post before scrolling past. And here’s the key: you CAN’T fake dwell time. You can buy likes. You can coordinate comment pods. But you cannot artificially inflate how long someone’s eyeballs stay on your content.

The only way to earn dwell time is by creating something people actually want to read.

For course creators, this is GREAT news. You already know how to create valuable, educational content that holds attention. That’s literally what you do for a living. The algorithm is now rewarding the skills you’ve already developed.

The Three Signals That Actually Matter

LinkedIn’s algorithm evaluates every post against three core signals: Relevance, Expertise, and Engagement Quality. Understanding these is the key to working WITH the system.

1. Relevance

Does your content match what your audience actually cares about?

LinkedIn analyzes your post content, the topics you consistently discuss, and matches it with users who have demonstrated interest in those subjects. If you’ve been posting about course creation for months, LinkedIn knows that’s your lane - and it will show your posts to people interested in that topic.

The lesson: Stay in your niche. Consistency in your subject matter helps the algorithm understand WHO should see your content.

2. Expertise

Have you demonstrated authority in this topic?

LinkedIn looks at your profile, your past content performance, and your consistency in a particular niche. If you’ve been posting valuable insights about online education for two years, you have more “expertise credit” than someone who just jumped into the topic yesterday.

The lesson: Building authority takes time, but it compounds. Every valuable post you create adds to your expertise score.

3. Engagement Quality

Not all engagement is created equal anymore.

Here’s what the algorithm weighs most heavily:

  • Multi-sentence comments (highest value) - These signal the post sparked real thinking
  • Shares with added context (high value) - Someone thought it was worth amplifying
  • Saves (high value) - This is HUGE in 2026. A post with 200 saves will dramatically outperform a post with 1,000 likes
  • Comment threads (high value) - Real conversations, not just drive-by reactions

The lesson: A handful of thoughtful, substantive comments beats dozens of “Great post!” replies.

The “Golden Hour” - Your Make-or-Break Window

When you publish a post, LinkedIn doesn’t immediately show it to your entire network. It runs a test first.

Here’s how it works:

Stage 1: Quality Filter LinkedIn’s AI scans your post for spam, engagement bait, and low-quality signals. If it passes, you move to stage two.

Stage 2: Initial Testing Your post gets shown to roughly 2-5% of your network. LinkedIn then watches VERY closely for the first 60-90 minutes. This is your “Golden Hour.”

Stage 3: Extended Distribution If your post generates strong engagement signals during that first hour - especially dwell time, saves, and substantive comments - LinkedIn pushes it to a wider audience. This distribution can continue for 48-72 hours if engagement stays strong.

What does this mean for you?

The first hour matters enormously. Don’t post and disappear. Stick around to respond to comments. Better yet, post when you know your audience is online and likely to engage.

One more thing: LinkedIn has gotten VERY good at detecting engagement pods - those groups where people agree to comment on each other’s posts. If your comments are mostly “Great post!” or emoji-only replies from the same small group of people, the algorithm notices. And it doesn’t count that engagement the same way.

Authentic engagement from varied connections beats coordinated shallow engagement every time.

What Content Formats Win in 2026

Not all content types perform equally. Here’s what the data shows:

Carousels and Document Posts: The Dwell Time Champions

Document posts (PDFs and carousels) generate 2-3x more dwell time than single-image or short text posts. Why? Because people swipe through slides, and each swipe counts as an engagement signal.

Educational carousels with 8-12 slides perform exceptionally well. If you have frameworks, step-by-step processes, or visual explanations from your courses, this format is your friend.

Video: High Engagement, Specific Requirements

Video gets 5x the engagement of text posts. Live video gets 24x. But there’s a catch.

Vertical videos perform 80% better than horizontal formats. LinkedIn is mobile-first now - 72% of engagement happens on phones. The ideal video is 1-2 minutes, vertical, with subtitles (since most people watch without sound).

Text Posts: Still Viable, But Depth Matters

Long-form text posts can still perform well IF they deliver genuine depth. The key is keeping people reading all the way through. Strong hooks, clear structure, and valuable insights throughout.

External Links: Handle With Care

Here’s an important one: External links get penalized 25-40% in reach. LinkedIn wants to keep users on the platform, so posts with links to outside websites get suppressed.

The workaround? Share the link in the comments instead of the main post. This doesn’t appear to have the same negative impact.

What the Algorithm Punishes

Just as important as knowing what works is knowing what to avoid.

Engagement Bait

“Comment ‘YES’ if you agree!” “Like this post if you’ve ever felt this way!” “Tag someone who needs to see this!”

LinkedIn explicitly downranks this type of content now. It generates shallow engagement that doesn’t reflect genuine value.

Clickbait and Vague Storytelling

Those posts that tease a big revelation but never deliver? The algorithm is onto them. LinkedIn’s AI can now detect whether your content actually provides substance or just promises it.

Overly Promotional Content

Constant pitching without value doesn’t just annoy your audience - it hurts your reach. LinkedIn prioritizes content that helps people, not content that only helps YOU.

The Same Small Group of Commenters

If the only engagement you get is from the same 10 people every time, and their comments are all surface-level, the algorithm discounts it. Variety and authenticity matter.

The Real Takeaway for Course Creators

Here’s what I want you to understand:

The 2026 LinkedIn algorithm is actually ALIGNED with what you do best.

You create educational content that holds attention. You break down complex ideas into understandable pieces. You provide genuine value, not empty engagement bait.

That’s exactly what LinkedIn rewards now.

The challenge isn’t that you don’t know how to create valuable content - it’s that creating it consistently takes TIME. Time you’d rather spend on your actual courses. Time you don’t have.

Your course materials are a goldmine waiting to be tapped. That framework you teach in Module 3? That’s a carousel. That concept you explain in your intro lesson? That’s a text post. The mistake you see students make over and over? That’s a video.

The content exists. It just needs to be reformatted for LinkedIn and posted consistently.

Working With the Algorithm, Not Against It

The LinkedIn algorithm in 2026 isn’t your enemy. It’s actually doing you a favor by filtering out the garbage and rewarding genuine depth.

The creators who will win aren’t the ones gaming the system with tricks. They’re the ones consistently showing up with valuable, educational content that respects their audience’s time.

As a course creator, you already have the skills. You already have the content. The only missing piece is the system to repurpose and publish it consistently.

That’s exactly why we built ContentBee - to help educators like you turn your existing course content into a steady stream of algorithm-friendly LinkedIn posts, without spending hours every week on content creation.

The algorithm rewards depth. You’ve got depth in spades. Now it’s just about getting it out there consistently.

Ready to turn your course content into LinkedIn posts that work with the algorithm? Check out ContentBee and see how it works.

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