With Twitter's decline as a professional networking hub, LinkedIn has emerged as the dominant platform for technical discourse and career development. Senior ZDNET contributor David Gewirtz recently documented his experience launching "Advanced Geekery" on LinkedIn, providing a rare technical dissection of the newsletter creation process that's invaluable for developers, engineers, and tech leaders.

Why LinkedIn Newsletters Matter for Tech Professionals

Unlike generic social posts, newsletters offer sustained engagement with your network. LinkedIn automatically notifies your connections about new publications and facilitates subscriber growth. Crucially, no Premium subscription is required – a significant advantage over many publishing platforms. As Gewirtz notes:

"Ever since Twitter took its wacky dive off the credibility cliff, LinkedIn has been picking up the slack in terms of professional and work-related social networking."

The Technical Creation Workflow (With Caveats)

Gewirtz's 5-step process reveals key technical considerations:

  1. Initiation Paradox: Despite being a newsletter, creation starts by clicking "Write Article" in the post composer
  2. Metadata Requirements:
    • Strict 300x300 pixel logo dimensions
    • Limited description field (~100 characters)
    • Frequency commitment declaration upfront
  3. Content Porting Challenges: While text and links paste cleanly from platforms like Substack:
    • Images require manual re-upload
    • Video embeds don't auto-generate (URLs remain plain text)
    • Formatting controls are more limited than dedicated publishing tools
Practical Impact:
Cross-platform publishing adds ~15 minutes per issue
when porting from Substack due to media handling.
  1. Navigation Quirks: The newsletter management interface is buried under the LinkedIn logo → "Newsletters" rather than accessible via profile
  2. Scheduling Mechanics: The system allows precise scheduling but requires navigating past a prominently placed "Delete" option in drafts

Strategic Implications for Technical Audiences

For engineers building personal brands or open-source maintainers disseminating updates, LinkedIn newsletters offer:

  • Algorithm Advantage: Newsletter notifications bypass typical feed algorithms
  • Professional Context: Readers engage within career-focused mindset
  • Cross-Pollination: Integrates with existing articles and posts on your profile

However, Gewirtz's experiment highlights workflow tradeoffs. The platform lacks:

  • API integration capabilities
  • Advanced analytics
  • Custom styling options

The Verdict for Tech Creators

While not replacing dedicated platforms like Substack or Ghost, LinkedIn newsletters serve as a powerful complementary channel. Their native integration with professional networks creates unique amplification potential for technical content – provided creators accommodate the platform's publishing constraints. As Gewirtz concludes, the 15-minute additional effort per issue proves worthwhile for reaching LinkedIn-centric technical audiences who might otherwise miss critical updates.

Source: David Gewirtz, ZDNET