Darren Thomson's AuthorDNA
The writing patterns that make your content uniquely yours
What is AuthorDNA?
AuthorDNA is a hidden linguistic profile - the subconscious patterns and habits unique to how someone writes. We analyze posts across 243 style metrics specific to B2B social content and compare them to thousands of other authors.
These are the markers most people don't even notice - but they're what makes writing sound authentic.
Does More Of...
Patterns you use more often than typical LinkedIn authors
Proportion of all-lowercase hashtags
4x more signature
Proportion of hashtags placed at the end
4x more consistent
Percentage of words that are nouns
1.7x more Average character length of hashtags
2x more consistent
Unique words divided by total words
1.1x more consistent
Percentage of words used only once
1.1x more consistent
Hook length relative to total post
1.3x more consistent
Does Less Of...
Patterns you use less often - that's part of your style too!
Whether the ending has a call-to-action
rarely consistent
Whether there's a clear opening hook section
rarely consistent
Whether any emoji are used in the post
rarely consistent
Variety of different emoji used (unique/total ratio)
rarely consistent
Whether the closing has a signature phrase
rarely consistent
Whether the ending is a question
rarely consistent
Whether the ending includes emoji
rarely consistent
Signature = unique to you
| Distinctive = stands out from average
| Consistent = reliable pattern
Your AuthorDNA Profile
You probably didn't realize, but your hashtags are a world of their own: you use all-lowercase hashtags 4x more often than the average LinkedIn author, and nearly always plant them at the very end of your posts (yep, 4x more than most people). Not only that, but your hashtags themselves are twice as long as everyone else's. It's a signature move you never wrote in a style guide - but it's unmistakably yours.
Why does this work? It signals a deliberate, almost studied intent - a sense of finishing with a punchline, a coded summary for those who know how to read between the lines. Now try briefing this to a ghostwriter: "Hey, can you make sure every hashtag's all-lowercase, twice as long as normal, and only ever at the end?" They'd think you lost your mind. This is muscle memory, not methodology. Even you couldn't script it out if you tried.
And honestly, with a posting frequency of less than once a week over 536 weeks, your style is rare enough to feel like an Easter egg. This is exactly what Drumbeat captures - the patterns you can't articulate but your audience feels. Your company's message, in each team member's authentic voice, at scale.
Signature Phrases
Your most frequently used words and phrases
Posting Consistency
06 Jul 2014 - 01 Oct 2024
0 posts/week avg
6/536 active weeks
530 inactive weeks
Deep Dive
Explore all 17 categories of writing style
Call-to-Action Patterns 7
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| CTAs phrased as questions vs statements | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| CTAs using command verbs (Click, Share, Comment, etc.) | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether CTAs are concentrated at the end of the post | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether CTAs include emoji | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether CTAs include hashtags | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Average position of CTAs in the post | Near top | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether any call-to-action exists | 83% of posts | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Emoji Usage 5
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emoji count per 1000 words | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of different emoji types used | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Total number of emoji in the post | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Variety of different emoji used (unique/total ratio) | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether any emoji are used in the post | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
Formality & Tone 9
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of words that are contractions | 1% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Usage of negative contractions (don't, won't, can't) | 32% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Ratio of negative to positive contractions | 1:12 | LOW | VARIES |
| Count of negative contractions used | 17% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Count of positive contractions used | 50% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Number of different contraction types | 50% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Total number of contractions | 67% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of positive contractions (it's, I'm, we're) | 94% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Variety of different contractions used | 28% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Function Words 21
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usage of 'for' per 1000 words | 0 - 46 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Usage of 'a' per 1000 words | 0 - 33 | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'and' per 1000 words | 1 - 26 | LOW | STEADY |
| Usage of 'as' per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Usage of 'because' per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Usage of 'but' per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Usage of 'if' per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Usage of 'is' per 1000 words | 0-13 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'so' per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Usage of 'to' per 1000 words | 1 - 32 | LOW | STEADY |
| Usage of 'which' per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Usage of 'who' per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Overall grammatical word usage | 25 - 248 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'at' per 1000 words | 0-25 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'by' per 1000 words | 0-6 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'of' per 1000 words | 0 - 40 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'on' per 1000 words | 0-16 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'that' per 1000 words | 0-13 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'the' per 1000 words | 0 - 45 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'with' per 1000 words | 0-17 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Variety of function words used | 27% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Hashtag Usage 12
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average character length of hashtags | 8 - 11 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Proportion of all-lowercase hashtags | 84% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Proportion of hashtags placed at the end | 83% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Whether the opening line contains a hashtag | 33% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags in ALL CAPS | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Proportion of hashtags woven into the text | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Ratio of inline hashtags to end hashtags | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Hashtag density per 100 words | 0.0 - 7.0 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags in the opening | 17% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags using CamelCase | 16% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Total number of hashtags | 0.0 - 4.8 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether any hashtags are used | 50% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Opening Hooks 14
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALL CAPS words in the hook | 4% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Number of emoji in the hook | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the hook contains emoji | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the hook starts with a conjunction | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether there's a clear opening hook section | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Character count of the hook | 78 - 369 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Character position where the hook ends | 78 - 369 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Hook length relative to total post | 92% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Hook lines relative to total lines | 85% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Negation words in the hook | 0.0 - 0.6 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Use of 'you/your' in the hook | 3% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Where LinkedIn's 'see more' cuts off | 92% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Whether the hook contains a question | 17% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether there's a blank line after the hook | 17% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Line Structure 18
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of single-word lines | 6% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Ratio of lines starting with ALL CAPS | 4% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Number of visual text blocks | 0.7 - 4.3 | LOW | STEADY |
| Ratio of lines starting with numbers | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Ratio of lines starting with punctuation | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Ratio of lines starting with quotes | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Variation in block sizes | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Average characters per line | 2 - 220 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average lines per text block | 0.8 - 1.6 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average spacing between blank lines | 100% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Average words per line | 1 - 36 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Blank lines per 100 total lines | 0 - 45 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Lines containing exactly one sentence | 70% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of very short lines (<5 words) | 12% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Predictability of line length pattern | Very consistent | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Proportion of blank space | 21% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Spacing between content-rich lines | 0.2 - 2.1 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Variation in line lengths | 0 - 416 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
List Patterns 15
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average items per dash/bullet list | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Average items per emoji list | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Consistency of emoji bullet indentation | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Consistency of numbered list formatting | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Nesting depth of numbered lists | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of dash/bullet list sections | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of emoji bullet list sections | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of numbered list sections | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Use of fraction-style numbering (1/, 2/) | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Use of inline enumeration | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Variety of emoji used as bullets | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether any list structure is used | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether dash/bullet lists are used | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether emoji bullet lists are used | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether numbered lists are used | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
Vocabulary & Phrases 10
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common idioms and expressions per 1000 words | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of idiomatic expressions | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of words used only once | 12 - 53 | LOW | STEADY |
| How often three-word phrases repeat | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| How often two-word phrases repeat | 0.0 - 4.6 | LOW | VARIES |
| Length of longest repeated phrase | 67% | LOW | VARIES |
| Number of unique words used | 12 - 61 | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of words used only once | 92% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Ratio of meaningful words to grammatical words | 4% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Unique words divided by total words | 91% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Sentence Openings 16
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sentences starting with pronouns (I, You, We, They) (%) | 2 - 41 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Count of sentences starting with -ing verbs | ~0.0 per post | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of sentences starting with There is/It is | ~0.0 per post | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of sentences starting with conjunctions | ~0.0 per post | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of sentences starting with time words | ~0.0 per post | LOW | STEADY |
| Sentences starting with 'There is/are' or 'It is' (%) | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Sentences starting with -ing verbs (%) | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Sentences starting with And, But, Or, So (%) | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Sentences starting with time words (%) | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of sentences starting with adverbs | 0.0-0.6 per post | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with discourse markers | ~0.0 per post | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Count of sentences starting with pronouns | 0.1-1.6 per post | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Count of sentences starting with subordinate clauses | ~0.0 per post | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Sentences starting with Actually, Basically, etc. (%) | 0% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Sentences starting with adverbs (%) | 4% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with subordinate clauses (%) | 0% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Closing Patterns 11
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of emoji in the closing | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the closing has a signature phrase | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the closing has emoji clusters | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the ending has a call-to-action | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the ending includes emoji | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the ending is a question | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether there's a clear closing section | 33% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| ALL CAPS words in the closing | 4% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Character length of the closing | 52 - 399 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Closing length relative to total post | 91% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Whether the ending includes hashtags | 50% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Paragraph Structure 13
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closing paragraph length vs body average | 88% | HIGH | STEADY |
| How frequently new paragraphs start | 20 - 182 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Opening paragraph length vs body average | 2% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Consecutive long paragraphs | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| How much paragraph length varies | 46% | LOW | VARIES |
| Average change in length between paragraphs | 50% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Average sentences per paragraph | 0.5 - 2.9 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average sentences per paragraph | 0.5 - 2.9 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Consecutive short paragraphs | 0.5 - 4.2 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Length of your longer paragraphs (80th percentile) | 0.7 - 3.3 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total number of paragraphs | 1.0 - 4.3 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Typical paragraph length (median) | 0.4 - 2.8 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Variation in length changes between paragraphs | 50% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Parts of Speech 9
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of words that are nouns | 6 - 68 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are adjectives | 3% | LOW | VARIES |
| Percentage of words that are verbs | 8% | LOW | STEADY |
| Balance/distribution of different word types | Fairly consistent | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of auxiliary/helper verbs | 4% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are adverbs | 3% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Percentage of words that are determiners | 6% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are prepositions | 10% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are pronouns | 7% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Post Basics 7
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Count of complex words (3+ syllables) | 1 - 12 | LOW | STEADY |
| Total sentence count | 2.0 - 4.7 | LOW | STEADY |
| Total syllables in the post | 16 - 120 | LOW | STEADY |
| Total word count of the post | 11 - 72 | LOW | STEADY |
| Average word complexity (syllables per word) | 1.3 - 1.8 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How easy the text is to read (higher = easier) | 37 - 93 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of complex words (3+ syllables) | 6 - 19 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Punctuation Style 17
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colon usage per 1000 words | 0-134 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Em dash (—) usage per 1000 words | 0-11 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Exclamation marks per 1000 words | 0-78 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Multiple question marks per 1000 words | 0-10 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences ending with exclamation | 9 - 56 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Comma usage per 1000 words | 0-20 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Ellipsis (...) usage per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| En dash (–) usage per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Hyphen usage per 1000 words | 0-16 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Mixed punctuation clusters per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Multiple exclamation marks per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Parentheses usage per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of sentences trailing off with ellipsis | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Quotation mark usage per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Semicolon usage per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of sentences ending with a question | 4% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Question marks per 1000 words | 0-21 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Quotes & Narrative 10
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average length of quoted passages | 0 - 164 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Use of story transitions | 17% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Lines starting with quotation marks | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of quotation blocks | 0.0 - 0.8 | LOW | VARIES |
| Presence of dialogue attribution patterns | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the post tells a story | 17% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Lines using past tense | 30% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Number of narrative/story signals | 0.0 - 2.0 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Total characters in quoted content | 0 - 164 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether the post contains quotations | 33% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Sentence Rhythm 16
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of sentences under 8 words | 51% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Average number of clauses per sentence | 1.4 - 2.8 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average number of words per sentence | 3 - 22 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average words per sentence | 3 - 22 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How much sentence length varies (normalized) | 50% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How often paragraphs contain just one sentence | 70% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Length of your longer sentences (80th percentile) | 1 - 43 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Length of your shorter sentences (20th percentile) | 3.9 - 8.1 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Overall sentence complexity | 0 - 67 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Parenthetical breaks per 1000 words | 0-10 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences over 20 words | 18% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Typical sentence length (median) | 4 - 16 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Variation in clause count across sentences | 0.0 - 2.8 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Variation in sentence lengths | 0 - 18 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Word count of shortest sentence | 2.4 - 8.3 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Word count of the longest sentence | 1 - 43 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
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