LinkedIn's feed isn't showing what you asked to see. It's showing what LinkedIn's algorithm predicts will keep you on the platform the longest, and those are two very different outcomes. Once you see why that happens, you can fix it for good.
Why does LinkedIn show you posts from people you don't follow?
LinkedIn shows you posts from people you do not follow because its algorithm is optimized for platform engagement, not your preferences. LinkedIn generated over $15 billion in revenue in 2023, mostly from advertising and premium subscriptions, and both depend on time spent on platform. The longer you stay, the more valuable its ad inventory becomes.
So LinkedIn's feed algorithm has a direct financial reason to serve content that drives engagement, whether or not you chose to follow the source. Your follow list still matters, but it's only one signal and not the main one.
What are the specific reasons strangers appear in your LinkedIn feed?
Four distinct mechanisms push unfollowed content into your feed:
Second and third degree engagement amplification. When anyone in your network likes, comments on, or reposts a post, LinkedIn distributes that post to you. Any content that touches your extended network can land in your feed, even if you have no relationship with the original author. One viral post can reach hundreds of thousands of people who never chose to follow the poster.
Topic-based suggestions. LinkedIn infers topics you are interested in from your job title, profile keywords, past engagement behaviour, and the industries of your connections. It then injects posts on those topics from accounts you do not follow. The more you engage with any content, even to dismiss it, the more the algorithm reads that as interest and serves similar posts.
Sponsored content. A portion of every LinkedIn feed is paid placement from advertisers. These posts appear regardless of your follow list and are targeted based on your professional profile data.
Group activity bleed. If you have joined any LinkedIn Groups, their activity feeds into your main timeline by default. Posts from group members you have never connected with appear as though they are part of your normal feed.
Why can't you just turn off the algorithm on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn does not offer a way to disable its algorithm or switch to a pure chronological feed of followed accounts, because that would lower the engagement metrics it reports to advertisers. The algorithm is not just a user feature, it's part of what LinkedIn sells to advertisers.
You're dealing with a structural issue that native settings can't really solve. Effective fixes come from either reducing the algorithm's inputs (by unfollowing aggressively) or bypassing the feed entirely with a third-party tool.
What is the most effective way to fix your LinkedIn feed?
The most effective fix is to stop using LinkedIn's main feed as your primary interface and replace it with a custom feed of specific people you choose.
MyFeedIn is a Chrome extension built specifically for this problem. You create named lists of LinkedIn users, for example industry peers, creators you want to follow, prospects, and connections you actually care about, and MyFeedIn shows only their posts in a clean, distraction-free feed directly inside LinkedIn. No algorithm. No suggested content. No strangers.
The free plan includes one custom feed with up to 10 people and takes under two minutes to set up. It is the most direct solution to the problem LinkedIn's algorithm creates.
MyFeedIn replaces LinkedIn's algorithm with feeds you control. Build your first custom feed in under two minutes — free plan available, no credit card required.
Try MyFeedIn free →What are the other ways to reduce unwanted content in your LinkedIn feed?
Three native LinkedIn approaches that partially help:
Aggressive unfollowing. You can unfollow any connection without disconnecting from them. Unfollowing removes their posts from your feed while keeping the connection intact (they cannot see that you unfollowed them). Doing this aggressively over time shrinks the pool of accounts the algorithm uses for second-degree content. It's slow and manual, but it compounds over weeks.
The Following feed. LinkedIn's Following feed at linkedin.com/feed/following shows content from accounts you follow rather than the full algorithm feed. It is a narrower experience than the default feed but still runs through the algorithm and cannot be filtered to specific people. Access it directly via the URL rather than through LinkedIn's main navigation.
Hiding individual posts and reporting as irrelevant. Clicking the three dots on any post and selecting "I don't want to see this" or "Not interested in this author" provides negative feedback to the algorithm. Used consistently over weeks it has a modest effect on reducing similar content. It is not a complete solution but it is a low-effort ongoing signal.
None of these approaches give you the control that a dedicated custom feed tool provides.
Does LinkedIn's Following feed actually solve the problem?
Partially. LinkedIn's Following feed reduces the volume of content from strangers but does not eliminate it. The feed still runs through LinkedIn's algorithm, which means posts from people you follow are still ranked and filtered rather than shown chronologically, and suggested content from accounts you do not follow can still appear.
For most users, the Following feed is a meaningful improvement over the default experience. Still, it falls short of what most people actually want: a reliable, complete view of posts from a specific set of people, in the order they were published. For that, you'll need a third-party tool.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my LinkedIn feed show people I don't follow? LinkedIn's algorithm deliberately surfaces content from people you do not follow because its business model depends on maximising time on the platform. It shows posts that generated high engagement from your extended network, suggested content based on your profile and job title, and posts from paid advertisers.
How do I stop seeing posts from people I don't follow on LinkedIn? The most effective solution is to replace LinkedIn's main feed with a custom feed of specific people you choose using MyFeedIn. You can also unfollow connections whose posts you do not want to see without disconnecting from them, which reduces the algorithm's surface area over time.
Does LinkedIn have a following-only feed? LinkedIn has a partial solution at linkedin.com/feed/following which shows content from people you follow. However it still runs through LinkedIn's algorithm and cannot be filtered to specific people.
Why does LinkedIn show viral posts from strangers in my feed? LinkedIn shows viral posts from strangers because its algorithm distributes content based on engagement velocity rather than your follow list. When someone in your network engages with a post, LinkedIn shows that post to you regardless of whether you follow the original author.
Can I make LinkedIn show only posts from my connections? LinkedIn does not offer a native filter to show only posts from your connections. Third-party Chrome extensions like MyFeedIn are currently the only way to build a fully curated feed of specific people on LinkedIn.
Is there a way to control what appears in my LinkedIn feed? Yes. The most effective method is MyFeedIn, a Chrome extension that lets you create custom feeds of specific LinkedIn users. You choose exactly who appears in your feed.
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