#307: Richard van der Blom — The state of LinkedIn in 2026 (based on data from 1.3 million posts)

Richard van der Blom published his first LinkedIn algorithm report years ago as a curiosity project. This year, he and his team analyzed 1.3 million posts from 50,000 creators — and the headline number is hard to ignore: reach is down 60% for active creators over the last two years. Even harder to stomach: 80% of the comments Richard receives in the first five minutes of any post are written by AI. Richard is the author of the annual LinkedIn Algorithm Insights report — the most data-backed independent study of the platform I've found. He's also been targeted by LinkedIn's legal team, banned from the platform, and watched the third-party tools he relied on get shut down one by one. He keeps publishing anyway. In this episode, we talk about: Why reach is down 60% for active creators — and why LinkedIn says that's intentional What "topic fingerprinting" is and how to use it to re-teach the algorithm who you are How your comments now shape your interest graph, not just your human visibility Why LinkedIn newsletters are outperforming regular posts on reach, engagement, and conversion By the end of this episode, you will understand exactly what changed in the LinkedIn algorithm, why the old playbook is working against you, and the specific moves to make in 2026. 2026 LinkedIn Algorithm Insights Report Richard van der Blom on LinkedIn Full transcript and show notes *** TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Introduction (02:36) Richard's one-word description of LinkedIn in 2026: "turbulent" (07:38) The shift from relationship graph to interest-based graph — the biggest change in 10 years (11:36) Topic fingerprinting: how to re-teach the algorithm who you are (14:47) Why commenting on the wrong posts actively hurts your reach (16:41) Richard's 25-30 minute daily commenting system, broken down (25:17) The free bookmark search trick for building curated feeds (31:41) Newsletters vs. standalone articles — the numbers are not close (35:16) LinkedIn newsletter analytics: click-by-link tracking is now live (39:37) Optimal posting frequency: down from 5-6x to 2-4x per week (41:18) Why text-only posts require exceptional copywriting to work (43:20) What the top LinkedIn creators know that everyone else misses (45:29) Richard's prediction: LinkedIn is at a crossroads *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE #188: Richard van der Blom – How the man behind the LinkedIn Algorithm Report uses LinkedIn. *** ASK CREATOR SCIENCE Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY Creator Science Newsletter Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) Join The Lab (private membership community) Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT Connect on Twitter Connect on Instagram Connect on LinkedIn Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS View all sponsors Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices