How to Repost Someone Else's LinkedIn Post (Without Looking Lazy or Rude)

The short version: On LinkedIn you either hit the native Repost button (with or without your own comment) or you copy the link and write a fresh post referencing it, and the version with your own added thought will always outperform a bare repost. Credit the original poster by name and tag them, never strip their name off a screenshot, and know that a silent repost with zero commentary is close to invisible in most people's feeds.

More on this here: How Do You Repost Content on LinkedIn? A Straight Walkthrough.

The two things people mean by "repost"

When someone asks me how to repost a LinkedIn post, they usually mean one of two very different things, and mixing them up is where most of the awkwardness starts.

The first is the native LinkedIn Repost function, the one built into the platform since 2022. You click the little repost arrows under a post, and LinkedIn gives you two choices: "Repost" (instant, no comment, shows up in your network's feed as shared content) or "Repost with your thoughts" (opens a text box so you can add your own take before it goes live).

The second is the older, scrappier version: someone screenshots a post they liked, or copies the text wholesale, and publishes it as their own update, sometimes with a "credit to" line buried at the bottom, sometimes not. This second version is the one that gets people into trouble, and I'll come back to why.

How to repost using LinkedIn's own button (step by step)

This is the clean, sanctioned way, and it takes about 20 seconds:

• Find the post in your feed or on someone's profile.
• Click the repost icon (two curved arrows) at the bottom of the post, next to Like, Comment and Send.
• Choose "Repost" if you want it to appear instantly as-is, or "Repost with your thoughts" if you want to add your own opening line.
• If you chose the second option, write your comment above the original post, then hit Post.
• Check your feed a minute later to confirm it published with the original author's name and photo still attached at the top, above your comment.

That last step matters more than people think. LinkedIn keeps the original poster's name, headline and photo visible at all times on a native repost, so you cannot accidentally (or deliberately) claim someone else's words as your own using this method. That's the built-in safety net, and it's the main reason I tell clients to always use the native button rather than copying text into a new post.

The etiquette nobody puts in writing

Here's the bit most guides skip. If you're reposting because you admire the content, tag the original author in your added comment (type @ and their name), not just in the caption of the shared post. LinkedIn's tagging notifies them directly, and that notification is often the only reason they ever see that you shared their work. Without it, they may never know, and you lose the one thing that makes reposting worth doing socially, which is that it puts you on the original poster's radar too.

If you're taking a chunk of someone's written post and pasting it into your own status update rather than using the repost button, credit is non-negotiable and a link or tag is the minimum, not a nice-to-add extra. I wrote about this exact problem for Instagram in how to repost someone else's story with credit, and the rule carries over almost word for word to LinkedIn: name the person, tag the person, and do it before anyone has to ask.

A repost that went nowhere, and one that didn't

Two years ago I hit the plain Repost button on a post from a fellow speaker whose take on AI adoption in small firms I thought was excellent. No comment, just repost. It sat in my feed for three days and got 4 likes. Barely anyone noticed.

A few months later I did the opposite. I saw a post from a marketing director I'd worked with, making a point about why most companies pilot AI tools and then abandon them within 90 days. I used "Repost with your thoughts" and added four lines above it: my own client example of exactly that abandonment pattern, with a rough number attached, that 70 percent of the small businesses I'd spoken to that quarter had tried at least one AI tool and quietly stopped using it within three months. That version got 340 reactions and around 60 comments, and the original poster messaged me directly to thank me because her own post's engagement doubled off the back of people clicking through from mine.

The difference wasn't the algorithm being fickle. It's that LinkedIn's system, like most feed algorithms, treats a bare repost as low-signal content because you've added nothing, whereas a repost with commentary is scored closer to an original post because you've contributed fresh text. Nobody wants to say this bit out loud because it makes plain reposting sound like a waste of time, but it mostly is, unless you're doing it purely to be supportive to someone's numbers rather than to build your own reach.

The part that makes people uncomfortable

I'll say the thing most posts on this topic avoid: reposting someone else's content, even done well, is not a content strategy, it's a favour. It costs you almost nothing to do and it gives you almost nothing back unless you attach real thinking of your own to it. If your LinkedIn presence is built mostly on reposting other people's insights week after week, you are training your network to associate your name with other people's ideas, not your own. I've watched people build entire "personal brands" out of curating and reposting, and the moment they try to sell something (a course, a consulting service, a speaking slot) their audience hesitates, because the audience never learned what this person thinks, only what this person shares.

Use reposting to support people you respect, to join a conversation quickly, or to add a different angle to something already circulating. Don't use it as a substitute for having your own point of view. That's the uncomfortable bit, and it's true across every platform, not just LinkedIn. I saw the same pattern play out on Twitter long before LinkedIn even had a repost button, back when retweeting without comment was the lazy default; I go into how that shifted in 10 Twitter features you should be using now, and the lesson translates directly.

When not to repost at all

There are a few situations where I'd tell you to skip reposting entirely, even the polite native version:

• If the post is a personal announcement (a job loss, a health update, a bereavement), don't repost it for reach. Comment directly and privately if you want to support them.
• If the original poster has explicitly asked people not to reshare (some do, particularly around sensitive layoffs content), respect it.
• If you disagree with the post and want to repost purely to argue against it publicly, write your own post instead and link back, rather than dragging their name into a disagreement they didn't sign up for.
• If you haven't read past the first two lines, don't repost it. LinkedIn's own data on dwell time means half-read reposts tend to get quietly deprioritised anyway, so there's no shortcut hiding here.

Reposting across platforms is not the same skill

Worth saying plainly: what counts as good etiquette on LinkedIn does not map cleanly onto other platforms, and treating them the same is a common mistake. Instagram's repost culture is built around Stories and visual credit tags, which is a different muscle entirely; I cover the mechanics in how to repost a story on Instagram the right way. LinkedIn is text and professional-identity first, so a screenshot repost that would be perfectly normal on Instagram can look sloppy or even like theft on LinkedIn, where your name and headline sit right next to the content you're sharing. If you're weighing up whether LinkedIn's newer format features, including Stories, are even worth your time before you start building a repost habit around them, I broke that down separately in can you post Stories on LinkedIn in 2026, and should you bother.

A simple checklist before you hit repost

• Have you read the whole post, not just the first line?
• Are you using the native Repost button rather than a screenshot or copy-paste?
• Have you added at least two or three sentences of your own thinking?
• Have you tagged the original author directly in your comment, not just left their name attached below?
• Would you be comfortable if the original poster saw exactly what you wrote above their post?

If you can answer yes to all five, repost it. If you're only ticking two or three of those boxes, you're better off writing your own short post referencing the idea and linking to theirs instead. It takes longer, but it's the version that builds something with your name on it.

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Frequently asked questions

Can the original poster see who reposted their LinkedIn content?

Yes. LinkedIn notifies the original author whenever someone reposts their content using the native button, and the repost appears on their own profile activity too, so they can see exactly who shared it and what comment, if any, was added above it.

Does reposting on LinkedIn hurt the original poster's reach?

No, it generally helps them. A repost exposes the original post to a second network of people who weren't already connected to the author, and any engagement (likes, comments) on the reposted version can feed back into the post's overall performance signals.

Is it okay to copy someone's LinkedIn post text and repost it as my own words?

No. Copying someone's written post without credit is a straightforward etiquette breach and, depending on wording, a copyright issue too. Use the native Repost button, which keeps their name attached automatically, or clearly credit and tag them if you're quoting a portion in your own post.

Why did my LinkedIn repost get almost no engagement?

Bare reposts with no added comment are treated as low-signal by LinkedIn's feed algorithm and tend to reach a small fraction of your network. Adding two or three sentences of your own perspective above the shared post consistently produces far more reach and comments than a silent repost.

Primary sources

• LinkedIn's Help Centre