The new rules of LinkedIn

I can’t decide if LinkedIn is my favorite tool or the bane of my existence. Either way, I find myself spending hours scrolling on the professional development app every day.

It’s the same for many other college students. LinkedIn is the go-to for making connections, discovering jobs and sharing work-related accomplishments. It has been — for the most part — since its launch in 2003.

However, our generation seems to have joined LinkedIn at a unique time. There have been some changes to the platform — not necessarily in its structure, but in the way that people are using it.

LinkedIn has the highest number of users it’s ever had, with more than a billion worldwide and a plethora of features. On LinkedIn, users can “connect” with people they know and “follow” well-known individuals or companies. They can also send direct messages to their connections or those they follow. LinkedIn also offers a paid subscription where users can keep track of who or which companies are viewing their profile, among other features.

The feature that has been most recently used by LinkedIn members, however, is the ability to post whatever they feel is relevant to their profile.

According to advertising firm MediaHead, users have become increasingly active on the posting side. The number of posts has grown 41% in the last four years. Lately, the app seems to be filled with personal stories and social commentary, which sometimes fall outside the ballpark of “professional” content, according to avid LinkedIn user, Katelyn Secor.

“Sometimes, people take the smallest things, and they blow [them] up, and they try to make something they did sound professional,” said Secor, a sophomore majoring in business administration.

Secor just landed her first job as an analyst at Jefferies, an investment banking firm, for summer 2026 and dedicated the last six months to the banking recruitment process. Much of it took place on LinkedIn, where she became very familiar with the website’s algorithm.

“I think there’s an element of people really trying to market themselves,” Secor said. “Someone posted ‘I had this guest speaker come, and I did this’ … and it’s five paragraphs. No one is reading that.”

Secor added that it’s clear people will try to exaggerate their posts in an effort to one-up each other. She compared it to a typical social media platform because it is an opportunity to compare yourself to and compete with other users.
Karissa Bailey, the senior director of brand, digital and integrated marketing at data management company Veritas Technologies, observed similar changes in what people are posting throughout her professional career, even as she attests that LinkedIn’s core has remained the same.

“It has become more personal over time but still nothing like other social networks,” Bailey said. “LinkedIn has always been known as the business platform, where your profile was much more focused on your career. That is still true, but people have started to engage and interact more, both on business-related topics and by posting more information about who they are as a person.”

The shift in the type of content on LinkedIn from strictly business to a more personal format is certainly recognizable, but it raises a critical question: Is this a positive shift for the future of networking, or is it creating too much noise?

“I think sometimes [LinkedIn] can be used almost like a newsletter for some people,” said Sarah Stein, a sophomore majoring in journalism as well as economics. “But I think that most posts feel like they have a distinct message that contributes to the LinkedIn community in some way.”

The concise answer, according to LinkedIn experts and frequent users, is that posting personal and individualized content is valuable in creating a cohesive professional image. At its core, this personalization is an effort to make professional industries, businesses, corporate communities and recruitment processes more humane.

Because of her job as a talent acquisition manager at BuzzFeed, Cat Sturgill, has insight into LinkedIn’s role in recruiting and hiring new employees, especially young people just starting their careers. She believes the shift to personal content on the platform reflects employers valuing authenticity, which helps assess a candidate.

“Obviously, you have to be professional, but then there’s also a flip side, that we’re all human,” Sturgill said. “I would much rather talk to somebody that’s able to tell their story and able to connect with me on a humanized level, than a super corporate level.”

It’s clear that this type of connection via personal storytelling is a strategy that companies like to see. In general, the opportunity to directly and efficiently engage with potential buyers, partners and new hires is crucial.

“The changes, not just on LinkedIn but also in the overall market, require job seekers to take a more active role,” Bailey said. “It helps an HR professional to get a better sense of a person and their interests and experiences.”

According to Sturgill, there are very few rules for posting on the app. There don’t seem to be specific criteria that employers are looking for when they view your LinkedIn profile. Students should primarily use their own judgment to craft the personal image they wish to illustrate.

One recommendation from Sturgill, however, is not to post your resume directly on your profile. She said that’s overdoing it.

“People are just going to look at that and not give you the time of day on the application site that you applied on,” Sturgill said. “You kind of exiled yourself out of the running. I always tell people, ‘Save your resume for the actual application and only put your highlights and achievements on your profile.’”

Another recommendation that Sturgill included is that you shouldn’t post negative things about a previous employer. She said all that does is burn professional bridges.

MJ Rojo-Henigan, a career advisor at the USC Career Center, meets with hundreds of students to review their profiles before they embark on their job hunts.

“It’s not just about building your profile and never logging in again,” Rojo-Henigan said. “You want to go ahead and engage with the industry you’re trying to tap into. When you like those relevant posts, repost them or comment on them, it creates that visual that recruiters really want to see.”

This is precisely how Secor secured her internship. By engaging with investment banking recruiters’ posts about open applications or potential interview questions — liking them and commenting with her email address for more details — she strengthened her connections within the company.

Stein takes a similar approach, focusing less on her peers’ posts and more on what companies are actively seeking.

“The most important thing is to just tune out other people,” Stein said. “Sometimes, what I like to do is use the ‘jobs’ filter, so I can just look at jobs that I want instead of having to look at what other people are doing. And then after I filter out the jobs, I can go see who works where.”

Bailey noted that sharing posts that are related to your industry will make you more visible.

“I would also recommend searching for roles that are of interest and instead of just applying, take the time to dig into the company’s LinkedIn profile and employees to try to find people [who] may be a connection for you,” Bailey said. “If you can get an employee of the company to submit your resume as a referral, you will have a much higher chance of at least being seen.”

LinkedIn is a loaded platform. Its features are complex, and it’s constantly incorporating new ways for users to expand their professional networks, discover new jobs, and, well, show off.

“The competitive nature is extremely forefront nowadays … Everyone else seems like they are doing so much more,” Secor said.