Most people using LinkedIn wouldn’t describe themselves as part of a graph of any kind. They’re there to keep an eye on their sector, follow a few peers, maybe post occasionally, maybe not. But behind the scenes, how LinkedIn decides what to show you has been changing, and that shift affects how expertise is seen.
Historically, visibility was shaped by the social graph. Your feed reflected your network; you saw content from people you were connected to and the companies you followed. Reach came from building connections, so efforts focused on growing followers.
LinkedIn is now increasingly driven by what’s known as the interest graph. In practical terms, this means the platform pays closer attention to what people engage with than to who they are connected to. The posts people stop to read, or return to, begin to shape what appears in their feed, regardless of where those posts come from.
As a result, users are now seeing more content from outside their immediate network, provided it aligns with their professional interests. This may sound like a technical adjustment, but in practice it changes who has a chance to be heard.
For organisations in the built environment, this matters. Insight here is often experience-led and built over years. Views on planning, procurement, risk or sustainability have traditionally circulated within established circles. The interest graph makes it easier for that thinking to reach others facing similar issues, without an existing connection.
From our experience, this is starting to rebalance visibility in a way that feels closer to how credibility really works. It doesn’t guarantee reach, but it does give well-grounded content a better chance of finding the people it’s useful to.
Many CEOs and MDs remain hesitant of LinkedIn, often assuming it requires a level of performance or self-promotion that feels uncomfortable. In practice, the interest graph favours a different kind of contribution. Real expertise that is shared plainly is what resonates. Posts that reflect how decisions are made and how projects are delivered, feel credible to those dealing with similar pressures.
Over time, the platform begins to associate voices with subjects, and subjects with credibility. That process is gradual, but familiar. The difference now is that the conditions for that kind of visibility are improving.
Our advice for getting your voice heard:
- Be a thought leader: This isn’t as scary as it sounds, share perspective from real experience or explain how you’ve solved a problem that others are also facing, human voices matter now more than ever.
- Offer value: Each post is a value exchange; you want engagement but what are you going to offer to earn that? Think about the value you’re offering in each post.
- Be recognisable: Develop a unique way of speaking, format or perspective for people to recognise you by.
- Drive comments: Comments are the holy grail of engagement and engagement drives reach. Create content that encourages conversation and engage with every single comment.