Still Tagging a Wall of Names Under Your Caption? Let's Talk.
Despite my best efforts to educate folks, I still see far too many posts with a sh!t ton of tagged accounts sat under the caption. This is being taught as a "growth hack" and it's nonsense.
Carry on doing this if you:
are happy to look like you're in an engagement pod
believe "reach" means "people I forced into my notifications"
don't worry about LinkedIn reducing your reach (or even banning your account) for spammy practices
are 100% sure the people you've tagged want to be tagged and want to engage
enjoy the silent unfollows from people who got tagged in your last six posts
Tagging works when there's a reason. A genuine collaborator. Someone quoted. Someone you're crediting or celebrating. The people who'll actually want to join the conversation because they're part of it, not because their name got swept into a block at the bottom of your caption.
"I'd love to understand why I shouldn't…"
I posted about this on LinkedIn recently, and it prompted a genuinely good question in the comments from Tamzin Hall:
"Personally I don't mind this… I'm happy to be tagged, plus if I've been at an event and seen people, I do this. If I can help anyone with engagement and visibility, to me, as someone who is busy, this is a way I can do that. I'd love to understand why I shouldn't…"
Fair question, and it deserves a proper answer, not just "because it's spammy." Here's what I said back:
LinkedIn watches for patterns. The same names tagged under captions, post after post, gets flagged as engagement-pod behaviour, even when it isn't one. That hits the reach of the person posting and everyone tagged.
There's also the people who get left out. A block of names under a caption almost always misses someone who was there, and that quietly stings. Nobody enjoys realising they were in the room but not on the list.
The fix does the same job, properly. Tag people in photos, or add a line or two in the caption about the actual interaction — what you spoke about, what you learned from them, why they're worth a mention. Same visibility boost, no spam pattern, and it's obvious to anyone reading why each person is tagged.
That's really the heart of it. If you can't say why someone's tagged in a sentence or two, that's usually a sign they shouldn't be tagged at all.
The better way, in short
Tag people in photos they actually appear in, not under the caption
If you're mentioning someone, say why — credit them, quote them, thank them
Keep it to the people who'd genuinely want to be part of the conversation
If in doubt, ask before you tag
This picks up where How Not To Be A Spammy Pammy left off last year — turns out the message still needs saying.
