The Israel Gaza war is impacting how people consume social media, even on generally apolitical platforms such as LinkedIn.
Traditionally, LinkedIn is the place where professionals post their expertise and network online to generate business opportunities. Since its acquisition through Microsoft in 2016, LinkedIn also has an active content platform.
Since October 7, the amount of political content posted on LinkedIn is unprecedented, breaking a social norm on the platform. LinkedIn has emerged as one of the main channels on which many Israelis, particularly in the tech space, are sharing Israel’s message.
Since decision-makers are active on LinkedIn, this may be the most effective way to influence influencers and teach insecure professionals about conflict.
And it may fundamentally replace the way other people use the platform.
Gil Eyal, director of marketing and innovation at Inspire, the parent company of Silverstein Properties, is an angel investor and social media expert.
As of October 7, he says, “I think the biggest replacement is the way other people interact on LinkedIn. Previously, it was a very convenient platform where only work-related information was shared.
“If percentages of data weren’t professional, other people would roll their eyes and wonder why he’s sharing it here. I think we’ve found that more people feel comfortable or compelled to percentage their opinions about things beyond the workplace, especially what’s going on in the world and politics. And those discussions that were never part of LinkedIn now dominate my page. I don’t know if it’s the set of rules or if there’s so much content that you just watch it.
Tomer Zuker, co-founder of the Linkers Israel community, also noticed a change. He is a LinkedIn “power user,” a member since 2007, has more than 34,000 followers, has conducted LinkedIn workshops for organizations, and trained more than 10,000 people in the last 10 years.
“October 7th was the first time ever I wrote something that is not professional,” says Zuker.
“Think about everything that’s happened in the last five years. We’ve had all the political turmoil in Israel, all the rebels and internal unrest, and we had Covid, of course.
“So I’ve had a lot of opportunities to share my personal data in many ways, but I’ve tried to stay professional. I use Twitter or Facebook, as well as other social networks, to share my personal details, but I’ve kept LinkedIn as blank as possible.
The nonprofit CyberWell reports a backlog of more than 86% of content with a high likelihood of being anti-Semitic on social media platforms. Between Sept. 11 and Oct. 6, CyberWell’s surveillance team flagged 6,959 pieces of content with a high probability of being anti-Semitic. anti-Semite. From 7 to 31 October, the number of reported content rose to 12,949.
Although the business world is not immune to what is happening in the Middle East, LinkedIn is still a safer position than other platforms. Still, LinkedIn faces the challenge of maintaining its net neutrality in the face of pro-Israel. and anti-Israel messages.
Users can report specific posts as well as comments they deem offensive. These complaints are reviewed internally by LinkedIn and an estimated 10 percent will be penalized by having the comment or post deleted or by having the account frozen.
Since October 7, the volume of profiles and accounts removed or banned has increased significantly.
If you post pro-Israel content that gains visibility, many users who disagree with the content could report the post, forcing LinkedIn to take action to review the post.
Hashtags are another example. LinkedIn uses hashtags for search and to categorize posts. Today, popular hashtags from both sides appear to display a smaller number of followers than expected, possibly as a way of limiting the impact of some posts.
“The discerning approach users exhibit toward content aligns with the platform’s overall mindset. While other platforms struggle to control issues like misinformation, data misuse, hate speech, and fake news, LinkedIn is actively engaged in managing the online landscape,” says Regev Gur, the CEO of Narrative, a specialty marketing and business development consultancy.
“In particular, the various online projects presented in October, one of them aimed at denouncing LinkedIn profiles related to anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian content. The platform took decisive action to prevent violations of the rules, which, in the company’s words, included thwarting attempts to extract content through automated programs. LinkedIn’s efforts in this regard are part of the larger context of “complying with the terms of the platform,” emphasizing a commitment to maintaining an unbiased stance.
Although Facebook remains the most popular social network in Israel, many tech professionals in Israel contribute to LinkedIn. Since the pandemic, even more Israelis have started the platform to network, market, and even expand alidea’s leadership.
According to this online report, “figures published on LinkedIn’s advertising assets imply that LinkedIn had 2. 30 million ‘members’ in Israel at the beginning of 2023. The company’s announcement is successful in figures recommending that LinkedIn’s audience in Israel equates to 25. 3% of the total population. At that time. . . early 2023. “
Could this primary use the importance of promotion on the platform?
“I think Israel in particular is overrepresented among wise and successful people, whether it’s in technology or other professional fields,” Eyal says. “And those other people have built relationships on LinkedIn that are different from their relationships on other social networks, and other than the relationships you might have with an Instagram follower. “
Zuker thinks otherwise. The presence of Israeli users on LinkedIn, in the context of the platform’s global user base of more than one billion users, seems numerically less significant, with only 2. 3 million Israeli users.
“Without explicit knowledge about the ratio of LinkedIn users to the total population of the country, it’s tricky to definitively assess disparities,” Zuker says.
“However, it can be hypothesized that, due to Israel’s export-oriented economy, especially in the field of generation, it is very likely that a significant segment of Israeli professionals will have many foreign connections. This network potentially provides them with greater exposure to global markets, which may simply influence their engagement and visibility on LinkedIn.
The past few months have changed how professionals use LinkedIn, bringing a boon for engagement, particularly for those who may have not been active before.
In the past, serious engagement was reserved for business titans. Nowadays, with the right political content, regular users can attract a lot of attention and build an audience.
Sharing political content has taken the genie out of the bottle, and although there may be demanding situations related to hate speech, in reality, nowadays everything is political. . . even businesses. So this may also just be a harbinger of things to come.
It’s not easy to answer the question of whether the war has influenced LinkedIn’s ruleset and the content users see in their feed, because Big Tech’s ruleset is like a black box.
Readers can see the content that drives engagement, whether it’s likes, comments, or shares, which in turn leads to increased engagement on the platform.
After all, the purpose of each and every social media platform is to get users to interact with content and stay on the platform. Sticking to them triggers strong feelings such as anger, envy, and curiosity, which increases user engagement.
Will the proliferation of political content since October 7 change LinkedIn’s algorithm?
Gur says no.
“LinkedIn is unlikely to make significant adjustments to its approach, adding its algorithm. This facet sets it apart from other social networks and allows it to justify the modest value of its premium service, which is an integral component of its business model,” he explains.
“Despite world events, such as the war in Ukraine, LinkedIn’s core technique has remained decidedly business-oriented. This means that the algorithm focuses on selling content that matches professional interests.
“While encouraging demonstration of a human side, the ruleset primarily prioritizes factual information, discourages spam, and tailors content to individual users. So, if a user hasn’t shown any specific interest in Israel-related events since October 7 or doesn’t have very extensive ties to Israeli users, the likelihood of finding war-related content is incredibly low.
Still, Eyal notes that LinkedIn has never been afraid to experiment with features that generate engagement, such as allowing you to see who has viewed your profile or allowing members to other members.
“All of those things make other people come and take a look at the product, not necessarily for the original purpose,” he says.
“And then, they can just embrace [the creation of politically-oriented content]. This creates what was otherwise a boring, boring, and somewhat bland platform. It makes things exciting and interesting.
Jonathan “Yoni” Frenkel is a LinkedIn ghostwriter, marketing strategist, creator, and founder of YKC Media.