Cargo Cult Creep
I almost moved the link to the comments.
Not because I believed it would help.
But because people say “the algorithm punishes links”.
That sentence stopped me.
I went looking for evidence. Not vibes. Not growth-hacker folklore. Actual explanations of how LinkedIn’s algorithm works.
I couldn’t find any.
No public spec. No official documentation. No reproducible experiments. The closest thing I found was a LinkedIn post sharing a support response that vaguely mentioned relevance, freshness, and viewer behavior. Interesting, but not proof. Certainly not enough to justify changing how I write.
The Magical 25 Percent
I also found a number that keeps getting repeated. External links supposedly reduce reach by about 25 percent.
Where does that number come from. Nobody seems to know. It’s always “I read somewhere” or “people tested this”. No methodology. No controls. Just a number that sounds precise enough to be obeyed.
And yet, despite all this, I almost complied.
That’s the part that bothered me.
Why am I about to change my behavior to please a system I don’t understand, based on rules nobody can verify?
Cargo Cult
That’s not optimization. That’s cargo cult behavior.
We copy rituals because they might work.
- Link in the comments below.
- Post at the magic hour.
- Prime engagement in the first five minutes.
Just like YouTube creators pulling excruciating faces in thumbnails. Everyone knows it’s cringe. Everyone knows it cheapens the content. But it works, so it spreads.
Same mechanism. Different platform.
The Oracle
At some point, optimization stopped being about serving people and became about obeying an oracle. The algorithm turns into Marjory the Trash Heap from Fraggle Rock. Nobody understands how she works. She speaks in riddles. Sometimes she’s right. Sometimes she’s nonsense. But everyone lines up anyway, hoping for wisdom.
Marjory the Trash Heap, oracle of the algorithm. Image generated by the author.
The uncomfortable truth is this. If your content needs superstition to survive, the content isn’t strong. Algorithms amplify behavior. They don’t create value.
The Real Cost
The real cost isn’t reach. It’s clarity.
Awkward posts. Obscured intent. Signaling to your audience that you’re playing the game instead of saying the thing. High-signal people notice this immediately.
Rebel Rebel - Writing For Humans
I decided not to move the link.
Not as rebellion. As refusal.
Either I write for humans and accept whatever distribution follows, or I admit I’m farming reach and treat this place like a slot machine. Pretending to do both is the lie.
If that costs impressions, so be it. I’d rather lose reach than lose the plot.
This post connects to a broader pattern I wrote about earlier in
Sam Altman’s Last Resort