How to Screw with the LinkedIn Algorithm (And Why It Might Not Work Much Longer)

Jay Ashton, Canada's Restaurant Guy

Let’s talk about a little game some of us know all too well: gaming the algorithm.

Want more likes? More views? More reach? Here’s the playbook that’s been circling behind the curtain:

• Hit return.
• Spacebar.
• Hit return again.
• One sentence per line.
• Bonus points if you repeat something old with a new coat of paint and a clickbait headline.

It’s working… for now. People are racking up thousands of views by doing the digital equivalent of shouting on a street corner with bold-font signs and blank space between every word.

Even DMs are part of the play. Drop someone a short note with a flashy link. Slide into inboxes with copy/paste charm. Add a calendar link, a “quick call?” or a low-effort pitch masked as a compliment.

And the sad part? It works.

Because the algorithm doesn’t know value. It knows volume. It knows velocity. It knows who got there first, not who’s saying something real.

So yeah — for now, you can screw with LinkedIn (and Instagram, and TikTok) by playing their game:

1. Recycle your old content.
2. Load it with emotional hooks.
3. Break it into easy-to-skim bites.
4. Ride the dopamine wave.

But here’s the thing: This won’t last.

Platforms aren’t stupid. They’re watching. They know when users are being manipulated. And when real voices — the ones with actual experience and perspective — get buried under engagement hacks, they lose credibility.

So here’s a prediction:

LinkedIn (and the others) are about to crack down. Spacebar spam? Penalized. Low-effort reposts? Deprioritized. Accounts that grow based on tactics, not value? Silenced.

And I’m here for it. Because the people out here building real businesses, building community, building impact — we’re tired of fighting for attention in a rigged arena.

If you’re posting good stuff and getting beat by someone who’s got 50,000 followers and a ghostwriter? You’re not crazy. You’re just witnessing the end of the old game.

The new one’s coming.

And it’ll be built on trust, not tricks.