LinkedIn just killed the follower game
LinkedIn just flipped the table on everyone who spent the last five years grinding for followers.
Their new AI, a 150-billion-parameter model called 360Brew, doesn’t care how many people follow you. It cares whether you actually know what you’re talking about. It reads your content semantically, understanding meaning, not counting clicks.
Most “influencers” are about to find out they’ve been building on sand.
Here’s what changed.
The old LinkedIn was a numbers game. Post often, get likes, grow followers, look important. The new LinkedIn? It’s a relevance game. And the rules are completely different.
Median impressions on LinkedIn posts dropped from 1,211 to 636. The algorithm got pickier. It’s not showing your content to fewer people because it’s broken. It’s showing it to fewer people because it’s gotten smarter about who actually wants to see it.
The thing is, this is actually brilliant news if you’re a small business owner with real expertise.
The painter beats the consultant. Every. Single. Time.
Think about it like this. A painter who posts about fitting challenges, the right prep for Victorian cornicing, how to deal with damp plaster. That person radiates expertise. The algorithm reads it, matches it to their profile, and pushes it to homeowners looking for exactly that.
Now take the “business consultant” with 15,000 followers posting recycled motivational quotes and vague posts about “leadership.” The algorithm reads it, sees no depth, no specificity, no alignment between profile and content. Dead in the water.
360Brew doesn’t just scan your post. It cross-references your content against your profile. Your headline, your About section, your history. If your profile says “marketing expert” but you’re posting about property investment, the algorithm sees a mismatch. And it downgrades you.
The first two sentences rule.
This is the bit most people miss. The algorithm makes its decision fast. Your opening lines need to deliver value immediately. No throat-clearing. No “I’ve been thinking a lot recently about...” Just get to the point.
Front-load the insight. Make the first two sentences so specific that the algorithm (and the human) knows exactly what they’re getting.
90 days of focus, not 90 days of noise.
Posts outside your defined niche now face a structural disadvantage regardless of how well they’re written. So pick your 2-3 topics and commit. Not for a week. For a quarter. 90 days of consistent, focused content in your area of expertise is what proves to the algorithm (and your audience) that you’re the real deal.
The Practical Bit
Open your LinkedIn profile right now. Read your headline and About section.
Do they clearly state 2-3 specific areas of expertise? Or are they full of buzzwords like “passionate,” “innovative,” “results-driven”?
If it’s the latter, rewrite them. Today. Be specific. Be narrow.
Instead of “Helping businesses grow” try “I help UK manufacturers cut waste by 30% using lean operations.” The algorithm rewards focus, not breadth. And so do the humans reading your profile.
The follower count era is over. The expertise era just started.
Your move
PS: If you’ve got under 1,000 followers and real expertise, you’re in the best position you’ve ever been in on LinkedIn. The playing field just levelled. Don’t waste it.