Happy New Year!

Postbag

Hanne Møller – reposting your own post

Caryn Yuen – hashtags

I know LinkedIn has removed the ability to follow hashtags, but people can still use them. Some include hashtags within the body of their post to draw attention to certain words, while others add several at the end in a more Instagram-style approach. So what purpose do hashtags actually serve on LinkedIn now?

My top LinkedIn questions

1. Where do I start?
2. What do I post about?
3. Should I post personal stuff?
4. How do I approach people?
5. Do I need LinkedIn Premium?
6. Should I switch to creator mode?
7. How do I increase my Social Selling Index (SSI)?
8. Should I put links in posts?
9. Do I need a company page?
10. How do I get more engagement and visibility?

What's in your LinkedIn Year in Review? This is LinkedIn's version of Spotify Wrapped.

Should a CTA be included in the headline?

Caryn Yuen

If the CTA is very short and part of a reasonably short overall headline, then that’s OK. Headlines that are too long won’t be read by humans, and if the intention of the text isn’t clear to the AI-powered LinkedIn search, that could do you harm.

How to share achievements

Famey Lockwood

LinkedIn has a new template for an individual to announce an achievement – degree, certification, award, etc. While the post is flashy and eye-catching, the question that I have and don’t understand is where does an individual show the actual document for the achievement? If the document is posted as a comment, the document isn’t always viewed in the feed. In addition, a person can say they have an achievement without actually having the evidence. (I have seen an individual post she had a certification from an organisation that I belong to so I knew the certification did not exist.) So, does LinkedIn want us to say we have an achievement without showing the evidence? There’s too much room for errors.

Check out the Add profile section button on your profile, where you can add relevant items that work better than the templated LinkedIn post:

1. Licenses & certifications
2. Projects
3. Courses
4. Publications
5. Honors & awards

1. Joined in 2008 (but I wasn't active until 2017)
2. Active for 344 days (most of us got the same)
3. Top 5% (again, most of us got the same)
4. Peak times 10am–7pm (yawn)
5. 1 certificate
6. 634 new connections
7. 1382 connections "on the move"
8. 10K+ profile views
9. 1708 searches completed
10. Most used Premium feature: InMail (no way)
11. 192 posts (public posts only – I've done way more private posts)
12. 9173 reactions
13. 7076 comments
14. 3796 new followers
15. 3300 comments on others' posts
16. 1025 reactions on others' posts (must be more!)
17. 18 reposts
18. Support was my most used reaction after likes

Does the industry setting matter on your profile?

Christopher Johnson (voice note)

LinkedIn industry options help page

Fake accounts with similar headlines?

LB Brittingham

I'm searching for other experts supporting introverts and I keep coming across profiles with "introvert living in an industry of extroverts" or similar. Many seem like real accounts. Maybe it's some sort of LinkedIn insider knowledge/meme? Kind of like newbies to Threads don't understand the rage bait from fake accounts when they first get there. I'm wondering if the same thing happens on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn release a community report twice a year and the latest one covers January to June 2025. They say they've stopped 61.2M fake accounts at registration. 22.2M have been restricted proactively before reports were needed by members, and only 385,900 accounts were restricted following member reports. If you suspect you see a fake account, you can report it via the More button on their profile.

I joined in May 2021, paying £399.90+VAT. That's £479.88 per year or ~£1.31 per day. Here's what you get on Premium Business:

• Unlimited People browsing and searching
• Who viewed your profile over 90 days
• 15 InMails per month
• Custom CTA button
• LinkedIn Learning
• Open Profile
• Rotating banner
• Feature content at top of profile
• Enhanced Services panel
• AI features
• Gold badge
• Perks, currently including 3 months of free YouTube Premium and Spotify Premium

You might get a discount to stay when trying to cancel Premium, but I'm not offered that.

LinkedIn now has 100 million verified members, and Zoom will soon show your LinkedIn verification badge.

Some interesting videos to check out on YouTube:

• Rory Sutherland Behavioural Science & Marketing Q&A ~1h
• Algorithmic bias discussion ~1h 30m
• Lynnaire Johnston and Mark Williams ~1h 10m

UpLift Live 26 free ticket prize draw – ENTER NOW

Come to the LaunchPad call on Thursday 8 January 2026 at 11am GMT where the winners will be announced live!