Playbook
Viral is a filing system.
Left column is the feed you already know. Right column is what the stopwatch actually pays. Same topic. Different manners.
What actually changed
Dated. Sourced. Field means a third party, not a guru.
Oct 2024 · LinkedIn
Dwell is official. There is no magic second count.
Engineering blog: dwell time is how long a member pauses on a post. They first used it as P(skip) — too little time means the post is dead. They then added a long-dwell classifier. A static cutoff failed. Percentiles are computed by content type and refreshed daily. Passive readers — people who never like — still vote with their eyes.
Dies
3 takeaways from my morning run (you won't believe #2)
Lives
I almost sent the change-order email with the wrong distribution list. I sat there for 11 minutes. Then I didn't.
2025 · LinkedIn
The feed reads for meaning.
Next-generation feed ranking looks at what you read, liked, commented, returned to, or scrolled past. It is trying to understand a post, not count hashtags. Expertise on the topic and relationship to the author weigh alongside freshness.
Dies
#AI #Leadership #Innovation #FutureOfWork — thoughts??
Lives
We replaced a 40-person work-order queue with a model. The model is fine. The queue is now in a group chat, unnamed, unpaid.
Mid-2025 · LinkedIn
Relevance flexed over recency.
Members noticed two-week-old posts in the feed. Comms confirmed testing the balance. The 'dramatic shift was only temporary,' they said, but 'a little bit of a flex on recency' is the new normal. A useful post can reappear days later. The first hour is a nudge, not a verdict.
Dies
If it doesn't pop in 60 minutes, delete it and post a selfie with a whiteboard.
Lives
I left this up. On day 11 a stranger in procurement saved it. That is a more expensive vote than 40 likes on Tuesday.
Jan 2025 · Field
360Brew is a paper. Treat production claims as gossip.
LinkedIn published a research paper on 360Brew, a 150B decoder-only ranking model. Guru blogs will tell you it replaced the entire algorithm in March. LinkedIn did not announce a full cutover. Write as if a large language model is reading for coherence. Do not write as if a secret 47% reach tax is gospel.
Dies
My reach dropped 47% so the algorithm hates founders now.
Lives
If a model is reading this for coherence, it should be able to say what happened in one sentence: we poured, then we pretended it was a journey.
2026 field · Field
Saves and sentences beat applause.
Third-party analyses (not LinkedIn) keep finding: a save outruns a like by a wide margin; a real comment outruns a reaction; 'Comment YES' smells like bait and is increasingly ignored or punished. Native documents still farm dwell. Outbound links in the body still look like an exit.
Dies
Comment YES if you believe in people! Link in the first line.
Lives
Last line you can steal: The OAC is a cry for help in bullet points. If you have a better name for it, write that name.
Still true on the keyboard
01
One-line hook, then air
First sentence stands alone. Period. Line break. The rest lives behind See more.
The feed pays for the stop, not the essay. A click on See more is dwell time.
Dies
Excited to share some thoughts on leadership after an incredible week with the team!
Lives
I answered the RFI before I answered the owner. Tuesday. 11 people. A look-ahead named FINAL_v7.
02
URL in the comments
Do not put a link in the body. First comment gets the URL.
A link in the post is a request to leave. LinkedIn ranks that like a fire alarm.
Dies
We just shipped. Read the full story here: https://…
Lives
We just poured. The boring version is in the first comment.
03
Paragraphs the size of a text
One thought per line. Empty lines are structure, not decoration.
Walls of text bounce. Short lines look like confidence.
Dies
In today's rapidly evolving landscape, leaders must lean in, stay curious, and remember that culture eats strategy for breakfast while also remaining customer-obsessed.
Lives
Culture did not eat strategy. It ate Tuesday. We still have the OAC invite.
04
A number that did not need to exist
Prefer 4:07 a.m. and 11 minutes over 'early' and 'quickly'.
Specificity reads as memory. Memory reads as truth.
Dies
I woke up early and crushed a huge amount of outreach.
Lives
I sent 14 RFIs at 4:07 a.m. None of them were the one I meant to send.
05
Status wearing a wound
Admit a small failure that still implies you were in the room.
Vulnerability without status is a diary. Status without a crack is an ad.
Dies
Grateful to announce we 10x'd revenue. Humbled. Blessed. #hustle
Lives
I presented the wrong change-order log to the owner. They nodded anyway. That is the part I cannot stop thinking about.
06
One question, not a survey
Close with a single ask a peer could answer in a sentence.
Comments are the ranking event. Ten questions is a form.
Dies
Do you agree? What would you add? Comment YES if this resonated! What's your #1 tip? 👇
Lives
What did you quietly kill this week that the punch list still thinks is alive?
07
The first hour is the job
Reply to every comment like it is a meeting you accepted.
Early replies train the distribution. Ghosting the thread trains silence.
Dies
Post. Close the laptop. Check impressions tomorrow like a weather app.
Lives
Post. Stay. Answer the intern and the owner with the same number of sentences.
08
Tue–Thu, their morning
Post when your actual readers are pretending to work.
A perfect post at 9 p.m. Sunday is a tree in an empty atrium.
Dies
Sunday 9:14 p.m. A manifesto about rest, published while nobody is resting.
Lives
Wednesday 6:40 a.m. in their timezone. They are already in the trailer. You have 11 minutes of stolen attention.
09
Tag zero, or one who would answer
Never stack names as a distribution hack.
The people you tag know. So does everyone else.
Dies
Thoughts, Satya? Dario? Jensen? My entire series A?
Lives
I am not tagging the owner. If this is yours, you will know.
10
Zero to three, after the thought
Hashtags are filing. They are not the post.
A caption made of tags looks like it was written by a calendar.
Dies
#Leadership #Innovation #AI #FutureOfWork #Mindset #Grateful #Hiring
Lives
The post ends. Then, if you must: #construction
11
End on a line they can steal
Last line should survive being screenshotted without you.
Saves and screenshots are quieter than comments and travel further.
Dies
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! 🙏
Lives
The OAC was never about the OAC.
12
One job per post
Comments, or saves, or clicks. Not all three.
A post that asks for everything receives a polite scroll.
Dies
Like if you agree, comment your stack, repost for reach, link in bio, and subscribe.
Lives
Pick a job. This one wants a sentence in the comments. Nothing else.