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The Q1 2026 Algorithm Report
Chris Donnelly and I poured over 397,605 posts to identify the top trends on LinkedIn in 2026. Get access to the full 80-page report below.
In 2024, I went from 3,000 to 100,000 followers in 6 months. It was insane.
But if I posted that same content today, it would flop.
Why?
Because once something works on LinkedIn, everyone copies it. Once everyone copies it, people develop banner blindness. They stop noticing.
Novelty stops the scroll.
That's why we create the Saywhat Algorithm Report every few months. The game is constantly changing.
Last week, Chris Donnelly and I broke down the Q1 2026 State of the Algorithm Report live to 1,100 people. We spent weeks analyzing 397,605 LinkedIn posts.
There were tons of findings, but one stood out to me in particular:
2026 is the Human Era.
What Stopped Working
For 2 years, there were 2 ways to grow on LinkedIn.
Be relatable to as many people as possible. Or teach something educational to as many people as possible.
Posts about remote work, kindness, and broad leadership won big. So did "5 lessons" and "10 frameworks" posts that could apply to anything.
The biggest hits of 2024-25 looked like this:
“Your manager has more impact on your mental health…” - 307,555 reactions
“A raise won’t fix a toxic workplace.” - 191,853 reactions
“The biggest sign of leadership has nothing to do with titles.” - 120,008 reactions
That era is over.
AI commoditized all of it. Anyone can generate a "manager who cares" post or a "10 frameworks" carousel in 20 minutes. The value went to zero.
So What Wins Now?
Your humanity.
And the first place you can show it, is in your hooks. Here are 3 patterns that AI can’t fake:
1/ Authority Hooks
The first line now has to answer: “Why should I listen to you over the 50 other people talking about this?”
Think a specific result, number or situation. For example, Alex wrote about how Deel scaled to $1bn ARR as a 100% remote company. Only he can say that.
Think about turning "Here are 5 sales tips" into "I closed $4M in enterprise deals last year, here’s how:"
2/ Personal Story Hooks
Tell the story that only you can tell.
Andrew posted about BBQs he runs outside the Cerebras office. That post got 1,900 likes - on a post about meat! The more specific the moment, the less replaceable the post.
3/ Humor Hooks
Humor is the hardest thing to fake. Nicole’s post about A/B testing with her toddler got >9,000 likes.
What Else Changed
The human era is one overarching theme. But there are so many more.
Here’s what else has changed between 2025 and 2026:
Infographics → AI-generated whiteboards. They look messier on purpose and feel like real teaching.
Carousel front covers → 3D images, pictures of you. Some of the most viral carousels of 2026 lead with a single 3D-rendered image - a stack of books, a keyboard, a stylized object - that stops the scroll.
Quotes are ASMR-style. Winning quotes now sit on top of soothing illustrated backgrounds - silhouettes, watercolor figures, soft palettes.
Pictures of you > pictures of stuff. Photos with your face in them are out-performing boring polished shots.
Lead Magnets: Claude Skills replaced GPTs. The top-performing lead magnets went from GPTs to Claude Skills. The best are pulling 4,000-5,500 comments per post.
The full 80-page report walks through the data behind each trend, and more. Grab it here.
See you next week,
Will
Will McTighe
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P.S. Building a personal brand was the highest leverage thing I’ve done in my career. Whenever you’re ready, there are two ways I can help you:
Trying out Saywhat: My software platform and community for solopreneurs, consultants and coaches.
Cheat Sheets (Worth $200): Here are my 60+ LinkedIn Cheat Sheets.
