On LinkedIn, a reshare is a way for members to share articles with their networks12. Members can choose to reshare articles or publish their own content, and sharing can broaden creators' reach through members' networks, with Microsoft patents illustrating further sharing and recommendations from organizations134. In February 2024, the LinkedIn Marketing Blog advised using eye-catching images to attract attention and described images as shareable content that can extend creators' reach5.
How a shared post reaches connections and downstream viewers
From LinkedIn's research and patents, which may not describe how LinkedIn works today
LinkedIn's Help Center lists resharing other articles among the things members can do, next to posting photos, videos or documents and publishing their own articles1. It adds that content that is professionally relevant benefits from unpaid distribution through your network, and this lets it reach a large group of professionals1. The rest of this section rests on Microsoft patents, which describe ideas Microsoft protected and do not show how LinkedIn works today24. A Microsoft patent from May 2019 describes a sharing user who picks content to share with their first-degree connections, meaning the people directly linked to them, and these connections, called receiving users, may then be shown the shared item2. A Microsoft patent from October 2021 describes the next steps: the people who first see a share are immediate viewers, and their actions can create feed items for downstream viewers, who are people one step further out4. That patent says downstream viewers may share the post again and affect still more people4.
Organizations encouraging members to share
From LinkedIn's research and patents, which may not describe how LinkedIn works today
Organization recommendations can feed into this sharing process: a Microsoft patent from December 2019 describes organizations registering with a social network and recommending articles, blogs or videos to associated members such as employees, owners or volunteers, who can then share them with their own network3. An administrator asks the system to analyze each content item to estimate how likely members of the organization are to share it3. The stated aim is to raise the organization's awareness and visibility through its members' sharing3.