LinkedIn is pretty sure that their users are tired of politics.
The job networking site is testing out a “no politics” feature, for English speaking people in the U.S., which filters out content about political squabbles, future presidential leaders, and more, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The company said the feature is the result of user feedback about how increased political posts were hampering the overall experience for visitors of the platform.
Around 55% of U.S. Social media users say they are “worn out” by political posts, according to the Pew Research Center. And around 64% of U.S. Adults said that social media was negatively affecting the way things were going in the country today, according to another Pew poll from 2020.
“If they find it effective, if it’s helping them better accomplish what they’re trying to accomplish on LinkedIn, then we’ll roll it out to more,” LinkedIn Chief Executive Ryan Roslansky told the Wall Street Journal about the new “no politics” in an interview.
LinkedIn did not return Coins2Day’s request for comment.
How does LinkedIn define and locate political content?
Political content—which the platform says includes “political parties and candidates, election outcomes, and ballot initiatives”— is pinpointed by LinkedIn’s editorial team, and specific keywords, Roslansky told the Journal.
Political posts that users would otherwise see in their News feed will no longer appear if they have the “Do you want to see political content in your feed?” Option switched to “No.”
How can you turn that feature on?
The brand new “Do you want to see political content in your feed?” Feature in your Feed preferences is only available if you’re one of the users who has early access, according to The Wall Street Journal.
You can check to see if you are able to block political content by logging on, and going to “Settings,” then “Account preferences,” and then “Feed preferences.” From there, you simply locate the question, “Do you want to see political content on your feed?” And then switch this question to “No,” or alternately “Off” if you are using the mobile app on your phone. This is the most recent, streamlined and automated way to block political content.
Now, let’s talk about the old-fashioned way. Even if you don’t have that setting yet, you can still flag content you don’t want to see on your feed by flagging individual posts.
By clicking the three small gray dots in the upper right corner of a post labeled “More,” you can then select “I don’t want to see this.” You can select “I don’t want to see political content.” And finally, to save your preference click “Submit.”
