Gaming the LinkedIn algorithm: 60 days joke challenge

I’ve always been scared of posting on social media.

But during my tenure at Mailmodo, I noticed that everyone was pushing themselves. It was in the culture to outperform yourself. We were often told in company townhalls that the company will grow only if you grow.

So I started this 60-day challenge because I wanted to experiment with the LinkedIn algorithm.

My goal was simple. To develop a habit of writing new jokes for a couple of weeks.

In this challenge, I posted 61 jokes and generated 600K+ impressions.

I’ve tried to share all my learnings from these 60 days in 9 observations. So that anyone creating content on social media can benefit from my experience.

Here are those observations (I’ve tried to keep them short):

1. Consistency is overrated

Write daily. But not every post you write will be good.

I’ve seen creators posting daily in the name of consistency. The internet does not need more content. It needs good content.

Think of all your followers — and your future followers. Why would you want them to read content that you know is sub-optimal?

My first learning was, consistency in writing is underrated, and consistency in posting is overrated.

After all, good distribution of poor content is more harmful than the poor distribution of good content.

2. Ideas generate ideas

When I started this challenge, I only had one joke in my mind. But as they say, whatever you pay attention to grows.

My first post was a joke about meeting my HR on Tinder. With each joke I posted, I had 2–3 more ideas around that topic. I wrote them in a Google document to revisit later.

In this challenge, I’ve made posts on stealing my colleague’s laptop charger, meeting the CEO of a $1B startup, 3 reasons why your Manager is Batman, and more.

I completed the 60-day challenge, but I still have 15–20 ideas left in that document.

3. Your online profile affects your offline profile

I once read that there are two kinds of people. When you walk into a room, you’re either a “there you are” person or a “here I am” person.

The former are more interested in others, while the latter are more interested in themselves.

And so “there you are” people make new friends more easily.

When I had meetings with new potential clients for work, they’d start by telling me that they had read my last joke on LinkedIn. Once, a partner shared a screenshot, telling me that one of my jokes was getting circulated in their company’s WhatsApp group.

I never thought posting jokes on LinkedIn would become an icebreaker. Since they already knew about me, I just had to learn about them.

It helped me to become a “there you are” person.

4. Always plan ahead

This was my biggest learning.

Having a buffer of posts planned for the coming week prevents the daily pressure of posting. Writing more when you are in your creative zone saves a lot of mental energy.

Toward the end of the challenge, I started scheduling my posts one week in advance. I know this goes against the definition of a daily challenge. But it was my project, I’m allowed to have my own definitions.

5. Short posts get more engagement

On LinkedIn, I usually post text-only jokes. They are based on a single observation. I found that more people read the post when it was shorter.

Longer posts did well only when the joke was REALLY good.

As the saying in comedy goes — the longer the premise, the bigger needs to be the payoff.

6. Trendy content gets attention more easily

I’ve posted more than 150+ jokes on LinkedIn. I’ve found that when a topic is topical, it gets more traction.

A bad joke on a news outperformed all jokes on my Manager.

I’m not proud of it, and I don’t recommend it. But I’ve noticed that it works.
The key is to jump on the trend before it gets overused.

7. Count of likes, comments, and followers are vanity metrics

I know this is a bold statement. And honestly, I’m yet to internalize it properly.

But I’d not have lasted more than 10 days in the challenge if I had just chased the metrics.

A few of my posts went viral, but I made it through only because I like writing jokes. More than getting likes.

8. Honesty over Manipulation

Some jokes performed surprisingly well only because they were honest.

In a time when everyone is creating content to trick the audience into engaging, the audience gravitates toward honest content. Something that is not desperate for engagement.

This also ties back to the previous learning. If you keep chasing vanity metrics, you’ll soon stop enjoying the process. Chase honesty instead.

9. People are kinder than I hoped

Even though I ensure that all my jokes are work or workplace-related. I felt nervous posting jokes on LinkedIn.

Sometimes a few people got offended, but that’s part of the risk of making them laugh. But no one has ever commented negatively on my posts about making jokes on this social media platform.

Rather many readers left witty and funnier comments on my posts. There are so many people who comment on my posts regularly.

Support from my readers really kept me going.

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I’ll keep posting jokes. And as promised, most of them will be funny, some bold, and a few offensive.

But all of them will be for people who can take a joke as a joke.

One smile at a time.

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For text-only jokes, you can connect with me on LinkedIn: here

For short funny videos, you can follow me on my Instagram: here