trend-linkedin

name	trend-linkedin
title	LinkedIn Trend Harvester Playbook
description	Platform-specific intel for harvesting LinkedIn trends — dwell-and-comment ranking signals, harvest URLs, scoring on comment-to-reaction ratio and reshare-with-commentary, hook taxonomy that earns the 210-char expand-click in 2026, format-mix shifts (carousel rising / video / text), and dead patterns. Activates inside an octoweb:trend session whenever the user names LinkedIn.
license	Apache-2.0
compatibility	Octoweb browser access. Signed-in LinkedIn session required for feed and content-search surfaces.
capabilities	octoweb memory-read memory-write
domains	octoweb
rules	["session(trend) content(linkedin)","match(\\blinkedin\\s+(trend|trends|harvest|brief|post)\\b)","match(\\b(harvest|scan|analyze)\\s+linkedin\\b)"]

Overview

This skill carries the platform-specific mechanics the octoweb:trend agent needs to harvest LinkedIn — current algorithm signals, harvest URLs, scoring on dwell-and-comment economics, hook taxonomy engineered for the 210-char fold, dead patterns, timing. The agent owns the shared DNA loop; this skill plugs the LinkedIn parameters into it.

Mental model

LinkedIn's 2026 ranker is dwell-time + comment-quality + reshare-with-commentary on top of a 48–72h feed lifetime (10× longer than X). Likes are decorative. Comments and reshares are amplification. The 210-char fold ("...see more") is the entire game — a post that doesn't earn the expand click is dead. Native uploads (PDF carousel, native video) beat external links ~3–5× on reach. External links in the root post drop reach 40–60% — link in first comment.

Rules

Current ranking signals (2026)

Signal	Effect
Comment-to-reaction ratio	Primary signal. >5% strong, >10% breakout
Reshare with commentary	Weighted higher than empty reshare
Author replies to comments in first 60 min	Keeps post in feed longer
Dwell time (proxied by post length + paragraph rhythm)	Heavily weighted
Reaction diversity (Like + Celebrate + Insightful + Support)	Multi-audience reach signal
External link in body	~40–60% reach penalty
Native PDF carousel	~3–5× reach vs text-only
Native video (<90 sec, auto-captioned)	High lift
Creator Mode / Top Voice badge	+10–25% baseline reach
Posted from company page	~1/4 the reach of same content posted personally

Harvest surfaces (run in parallel)

Surface	URL	Yields
Content search, relevance	https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/content/?keywords=<topic>&sortBy=%22relevance%22	Algorithm's pick of top posts on topic
Content search, date	https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/content/?keywords=<topic>&sortBy=%22date_posted%22	Last-week live posts
Hashtag feed	https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=<tag>	Topic communities (LinkedIn does use hashtags)
Creator recent activity	https://www.linkedin.com/in/<handle>/recent-activity/all/	Last 30 days per anchor creator
Signed-in feed	https://www.linkedin.com/feed/	Personalized algorithmic surface for the user

Run 4–6 in parallel. LinkedIn lazy-loads aggressively — scroll 3–5× between snapshots to surface enough posts.

Scoring rubric (LinkedIn-specific signals)

Virality axis 0–5:

• Comment-to-reaction ratio — primary. >5% strong, >10% breakout.
• Absolute reshare count — >50 reshares in 72h means it's escaping the author's network.
• Reaction breakdown — diverse spread (Insightful + Celebrate + Like) beats mono-Like.
• Author-comment density — creator replying to 30%+ of comments extends feed life.
• Account band — micro creator (<5k) hitting 100 comments is a stronger structural signal than mega creator doing same.

Niche-fit axis 0–5 — universal scale.

Drop everything below 3 on either axis.

Hook taxonomy (must fit above the 210-char fold)

1. Counter-intuitive claim — "I just fired our top-performing SDR."
2. Specific artifact — "Day 47 of zero meetings. Here's the cost sheet:"
3. Belief rejection — "Stop writing job descriptions. They're the reason your funnel is broken."
4. Moment of realization — "I lost a $40k deal last week. The post-mortem is ugly."
5. Pattern callout — "Every Series A founder I meet has the same broken hiring loop."

The hook must (a) sit fully above the 210-char fold and (b) create a gap the reader must close to keep reading.

Dead patterns

• Press-release openers: "Thrilled to announce...", "Humbled to share..."
• Hustle-grindset clichés: "5AM club", "Comfort zones kill", "Mindset is everything"
• Rocket-emoji stacks (🚀🚀🚀)
• "Agree?" / "Thoughts?" closing — engagement bait
• AI vocabulary in hook: delve, leverage, harness, unlock, seamless, cutting-edge, unveil
• Humble-brags wearing story clothes — apply the strip-test (if removing the company/title kills the lesson, it's a brag)
• Numbered listicle hooks ("10 lessons...") unless paired with a sharp specific opening

Format and length

Goal	Length	Format
Virality	150–300 chars	Single, sharp, no expand needed
Depth (sweet spot)	1300–2000 chars	Story / framework, must earn expand
Authority	2000–3000 chars	Long-form thinking, dwell-time bait
Carousel (PDF)	8–12 slides	Strongest reshare format in 2026
Native video	30–90 sec, auto-captioned	High reach lift

The 1300–2000 char band is the dwell-time sweet spot. Shorter posts can go viral but rarely generate the comment volume LinkedIn rewards.

Closing CTA

Replace "Agree?" / "Thoughts?" with a real question. "Has anyone tried X in production? Did it actually behave the way I'm describing?" wins comments. Vague closings get scroll-past.

Timing

• Best windows: Tue–Thu 8–10 AM and 11 AM–12 PM local; second wind 5–6 PM
• Mon and Fri ~30% lower reach. Weekends near-dead for B2B.
• Optimal frequency: 3–5 quality posts/week. Daily dilutes engagement.

Saturated-take detection

LinkedIn's tech-niche saturated takes in 2026 cluster around: "AI will replace developers," "Engineering hiring is broken because of AI," "I built X in a weekend with Claude/Cursor," "AGI will arrive by ...," generic "founders should learn to code" / "founders shouldn't code" cycles. Verify saturation live before flagging.

Examples

Example 1: Hook + format DNA call

Bad — count without DNA:

This LinkedIn post about hiring got 800 reactions.

Good — fold analysis, DNA labeled:

{{Creator}} (Series B founder, 24k followers) — 812 reactions / 94 comments / 38 reshares
Comment-to-reaction ratio: 11.6% — breakout.
Reaction breakdown: 412 Like / 198 Insightful / 142 Support / 60 Celebrate — diverse.
Hook (first 187 chars, above fold):
> I just fired our top-performing SDR.
> He hit 140% of quota three quarters running. Here's why letting him go was the single best hiring decision I made this year.
Hook type: counter-intuitive claim + specific stake.
Length: 1,580 chars (dwell-time sweet spot).
Format: text-only, three paragraphs in body each starting with the lesson, no external link, link in first comment.
Author replied to 27 of 94 comments within 2h — feed life extended.

Example 2: Strip-test on a humble-brag

A post by a CMO announcing a $500k pipeline win, framed as "lessons":

• Strip the company name and the dollar figure → does the lesson still teach? No → it's a brag in story clothes → flag and exclude from recommendations.

Checklist

Before returning the LinkedIn section of the brief:

• Every cited post has creator name, follower band, reaction count, comment count, reshare count, URL, and posted-time
• Comment-to-reaction ratio computed and used as primary signal
• Reaction breakdown noted on top cluster posts (diversity signal)
• First 2–3 lines (above the 210-char fold) quoted verbatim for every cited post
• Strip-test applied to any cited post that mentions a company / title / milestone
• Format mix this window noted (text-only / carousel / video / poll percentages)
• (Opt-in mode only) Hook bank entries each fit ≤210 chars and use a taxonomy type from this skill
• Dead-pattern list applied — no recommended hook uses press-release opener, hustle clichés, rocket-stacks, or AI vocabulary
• (Opt-in mode only) Timing recommendation falls in Tue–Thu 8–10 AM / 11 AM–12 PM / 5–6 PM local
• (Opt-in mode only) Closing CTA recommended is a real specific question, not "Agree?"
• All background tabs closed

Composition / References

• Pairs with social-linkedin (content domain) for writing the actual post from the brief.
• LinkedIn content-search URL parameters: sortBy="relevance" vs sortBy="date_posted".
• Use the agent's universal output schema.