The End of LinkedIn’s Top Voice Gold Badges

As of October 8th, 2024, LinkedIn has officially retired its Community Top Voice badges, a move that has sparked considerable discussion among the platform’s contributors. These badges, awarded automatically to those who contributed to Collaborative Articles, will expire within 60 days, leaving many wondering why LinkedIn made this decision and what it means for the future of content creation on the platform.

If you currently have a gold Community Top Voice badge, it will expire within 60 days from when it was awarded. Those who earn a badge on October 8, 2024, will have it through December 7, 2024.

Why LinkedIn Removed the Top Voice Badges

LinkedIn’s reasoning for removing the badges stems from the system’s inability to accurately reflect expertise. Since these badges were awarded automatically, the recognition didn’t always align with genuine knowledge or industry authority. LinkedIn acknowledged this, stating:

"We’ve learned that it is challenging to maintain the highest quality standards for our Community Top Voice badges, as they are currently awarded automatically to contributors, and not manually awarded by our team."

In other words, LinkedIn users have been complaining about the fact that some individuals awarded the Top Voice badge may not have demonstrated real expertise. This automatic system, designed to reward contributions to AI-generated articles, often failed to ensure that those contributors were truly experts in their fields.

This feedback, combined with LinkedIn’s internal assessment, led to the conclusion that the Top Voice badge was not serving its intended purpose. The platform decided to retire the badge to maintain the credibility of its recognition systems, ensuring that badges are reflective of true expertise rather than mere participation.