Nick O'Connor'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
How often the same emoji repeats across the post
17x more signature ↑ increasing
Number of emoji in call-to-action lines
9x more signature ↑ increasing
Proportion of all-lowercase hashtags
4x more signature
Emoji density in CTA sections
15x more ↑ increasing
Emoji count relative to sentence count
8x more distinctive ↑ increasing
Average emoji per line of text
5x more consistent ↑ increasing
Number of emoji in the opening hook
6x more ↑ increasing
Does Less Of...
Patterns you use less often - that's part of your style too!
Whether CTAs are concentrated at the end of the post
rarely consistent
Whether dash/bullet lists are used
rarely consistent
Use of 'you/your' in the hook
2x less consistent
Percentage of words that are pronouns
1.4x less Signature = unique to you
| Distinctive = stands out from average
| Consistent = reliable pattern
Your AuthorDNA Profile
You probably didn't realize, but you repeat the exact same emoji in a single post 17 times more often than the average LinkedIn writer. That's not just using emoji for emphasis - that's a signature beat your audience can't miss. It's the digital equivalent of pounding the table to make your point, again and again, until it lands.
Why does this work? It turns your calls to action into unmistakable rallying cries. A single emoji might be skimmed past, but your relentless repetition turns CTAs into anthems. Now imagine trying to brief this to a ghostwriter: "Make sure you use the same emoji 17x more than average, and stack them in my CTAs at 9x the norm." They'd think you were joking. But you couldn't stop doing it if you tried - it's not style, it's instinct.
And with a posting rhythm of just 0.2 times per week, every post has to hit hard. 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.
Style Evolution
How your writing has changed (Sep 2018 - Oct 2025)
Recent 21 posts since Dec 2023
vs
Earlier 40 posts before Dec 2023
Opening hashtags Declining (42% → 14%)
Less
Emoji usage Increasing (2% → 24%)
More
Style patterns based on 61 posts. Recent trends may differ from overall averages shown above.
Signature Phrases
Your most frequently used words and phrases
Posting Consistency
19 Sep 2018 - 13 Oct 2025
0.2 posts/week avg
53/370 active weeks
317 inactive weeks
Deep Dive
Explore all 17 categories of writing style
Call-to-Action Patterns 7
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether CTAs include emoji | 15% of posts | HIGH | VARIES |
| CTAs phrased as questions vs statements | 2% | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether CTAs are concentrated at the end of the post | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether CTAs include hashtags | 7% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Average position of CTAs in the post | Near top | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| CTAs using command verbs (Click, Share, Comment, etc.) | 9% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether any call-to-action exists | 49% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Emoji Usage 38
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average distance between repeated emoji | 18% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Average emoji per line of text | 56% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Balance between positive and negative emoji | 33% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of neutral/functional emoji | 0.5 - 3.1 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Count of positive/celebratory emoji | 0.0 - 2.1 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Emoji count relative to sentence count | 78% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Emoji density in CTA sections | 48 - 321 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Emoji density in the hook section | 9 - 37 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Emoji usage in the middle section of the post | 0 - 90 | HIGH | VARIES |
| How consistently emoji pair with specific words | 2% | HIGH | VARIES |
| How often the same emoji repeats across the post | 44% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Number of emoji in call-to-action lines | 0.7 - 2.6 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Number of emoji in the opening hook | 0.6 - 2.2 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Percentage of emoji that are neutral/functional | 67% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Percentage of emoji that are positive/celebratory | 33% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Percentage of lines containing at least one emoji | 36% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Total count of repeated emoji across the post | 0.3 - 2.4 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Average number of emoji appearing together in clusters | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of negative/warning emoji | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| How consistently the same emoji is used for bullets | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Largest group of adjacent emoji | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of bullet point lines using emoji as markers | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of different emoji types used | 0.0 - 0.8 | LOW | VARIES |
| Number of emoji clusters (groups of adjacent emoji) | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of emoji that are 'corpspeak' type | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of emoji that are negative/warning | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of lines that contain only emoji | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Proportion of emoji appearing in clusters | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Proportion of emoji that appear multiple times | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Variety of different emoji used (unique/total ratio) | 10% | LOW | VARIES |
| Variety of different emoji used as bullets | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether emoji are used as bullet point markers | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the post starts with an emoji | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Consistency of emoji bullet indentation | 0% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Emoji count per 1000 words | 6% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Emoji used to replace words entirely | 4% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Total number of emoji in the post | 0.0 - 1.7 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether any emoji are used in the post | 18% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Formality & Tone 9
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Count of positive contractions used | 30% | LOW | VARIES |
| Number of different contraction types | 36% | LOW | VARIES |
| Percentage of words that are contractions | 50% | LOW | VARIES |
| Ratio of negative to positive contractions | 16:1 | LOW | VARIES |
| Total number of contractions | 41% | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of negative contractions (don't, won't, can't) | 8% | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of positive contractions (it's, I'm, we're) | 42% | LOW | VARIES |
| Count of negative contractions used | 12% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Variety of different contractions used | 19% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Function Words 21
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usage of 'but' per 1000 words | 0-13 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Usage of 'by' per 1000 words | 0-16 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Usage of 'which' per 1000 words | 0-6 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Usage of 'because' per 1000 words | 0-1 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'is' per 1000 words | 0-18 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'who' per 1000 words | 0-6 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Overall grammatical word usage | 160 - 266 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'a' per 1000 words | 0 - 37 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'and' per 1000 words | 9 - 48 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'as' per 1000 words | 0-15 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'at' per 1000 words | 0-22 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'for' per 1000 words | 0 - 26 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'if' per 1000 words | 0-10 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'of' per 1000 words | 0 - 28 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'on' per 1000 words | 0-22 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'so' per 1000 words | 0-8 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'that' per 1000 words | 0-14 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'the' per 1000 words | 17 - 66 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'to' per 1000 words | 8 - 69 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'with' per 1000 words | 0-16 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Variety of function words used | 43% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Hashtag Usage 12
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average character length of hashtags | 9 - 14 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Proportion of all-lowercase hashtags | 87% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Proportion of hashtags placed at the end | 70% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Total number of hashtags | 0.9 - 4.1 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Whether any hashtags are used | 84% of posts | HIGH | STEADY |
| Whether the opening line contains a hashtag | 39% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags using CamelCase | 8% | LOW | VARIES |
| Ratio of inline hashtags to end hashtags | 7% | LOW | VARIES |
| Hashtag density per 100 words | 0.7 - 8.3 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Proportion of hashtags in ALL CAPS | 5% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags in the opening | 26% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags woven into the text | 4% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Opening Hooks 14
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether there's a blank line after the hook | 39% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Number of emoji in the hook | 0.0 - 0.4 | LOW | VARIES |
| Use of 'you/your' in the hook | 1% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the hook contains emoji | 5% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether the hook starts with a conjunction | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether there's a clear opening hook section | 16% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| ALL CAPS words in the hook | 3% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Character count of the hook | 182 - 412 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Character position where the hook ends | 182 - 412 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Hook length relative to total post | 76% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Hook lines relative to total lines | 57% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Negation words in the hook | 0.0 - 1.0 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Where LinkedIn's 'see more' cuts off | 76% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Whether the hook contains a question | 12% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Line Structure 18
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of single-word lines | 4% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Percentage of very short lines (<5 words) | 25% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Variation in line lengths | 0 - 1098 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Ratio of lines starting with numbers | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Ratio of lines starting with punctuation | 1% | LOW | STEADY |
| Ratio of lines starting with quotes | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Variation in block sizes | 22% | LOW | VARIES |
| Average characters per line | 65 - 263 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average lines per text block | 0.8 - 1.5 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average spacing between blank lines | 0.1 - 2.2 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average words per line | 11 - 43 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Blank lines per 100 total lines | 10 - 45 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Lines containing exactly one sentence | 48% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Number of visual text blocks | 1.1 - 4.8 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Predictability of line length pattern | Very consistent | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Proportion of blank space | 28% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Ratio of lines starting with ALL CAPS | 2% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Spacing between content-rich lines | 0.7 - 2.2 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
List Patterns 15
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average items per dash/bullet list | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Average items per emoji list | 5% | LOW | VARIES |
| 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 - 0.1 | LOW | VARIES |
| Number of numbered list sections | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Use of fraction-style numbering (1/, 2/) | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Variety of emoji used as bullets | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether any list structure is used | 2% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether dash/bullet lists are used | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether emoji bullet lists are used | 2% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether numbered lists are used | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Use of inline enumeration | 1% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
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 |
| How often three-word phrases repeat | 29% | LOW | VARIES |
| Count of words used only once | 25 - 74 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How often two-word phrases repeat | 0.0 - 6.2 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Length of longest repeated phrase | 0.0 - 2.4 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Number of unique words used | 28 - 90 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words used only once | 85% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Ratio of meaningful words to grammatical words | 4% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Unique words divided by total words | 82% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Sentence Openings 16
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Count of sentences starting with adverbs | 0.0-1.1 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with conjunctions | 0.0-0.8 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with discourse markers | 0.0-1.0 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with pronouns | 0.0-2.3 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with subordinate clauses | 0.0-0.7 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with time words | 0.0-0.8 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with Actually, Basically, etc. (%) | 3% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with And, But, Or, So (%) | 2% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with adverbs (%) | 5% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with subordinate clauses (%) | 3% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with time words (%) | 2% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with There is/It is | 0.0-0.1 per post | LOW | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with -ing verbs | 0.0-0.4 per post | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with 'There is/are' or 'It is' (%) | 55% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with -ing verbs (%) | 3% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with pronouns (I, You, We, They) (%) | 0 - 34 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Closing Patterns 11
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of emoji in the closing | 0.0 - 1.2 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether the ending includes hashtags | 82% of posts | HIGH | STEADY |
| Whether the closing has emoji clusters | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the ending is a question | 7% | LOW | VARIES |
| ALL CAPS words in the closing | 3% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Character length of the closing | 157 - 452 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Closing length relative to total post | 77% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Whether the closing has a signature phrase | 16% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether the ending has a call-to-action | 38% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether the ending includes emoji | 16% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether there's a clear closing section | 70% of posts | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Paragraph Structure 13
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average change in length between paragraphs | 0.5 - 1.9 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Opening paragraph length vs body average | 2% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Variation in length changes between paragraphs | 0.0 - 4.4 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Average sentences per paragraph | 1.2 - 3.0 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average sentences per paragraph | 1.2 - 3.0 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Closing paragraph length vs body average | 70% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Consecutive long paragraphs | 13% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Consecutive short paragraphs | 0.6 - 3.4 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How frequently new paragraphs start | 20 - 68 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How much paragraph length varies | 0.0 - 3.7 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Length of your longer paragraphs (80th percentile) | 1.7 - 4.3 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total number of paragraphs | 1.2 - 4.9 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Typical paragraph length (median) | 0.9 - 2.8 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Parts of Speech 9
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balance/distribution of different word types | Moderately varied | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of auxiliary/helper verbs | 5% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are adjectives | 8% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are adverbs | 4% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are determiners | 7% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are nouns | 15 - 27 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are prepositions | 8 - 16 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are pronouns | 6% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are verbs | 8 - 17 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Post Basics 7
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average word complexity (syllables per word) | 1.4 - 1.9 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Count of complex words (3+ syllables) | 5 - 19 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How easy the text is to read (higher = easier) | 29 - 71 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of complex words (3+ syllables) | 10 - 25 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total sentence count | 1.4 - 9.0 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total syllables in the post | 53 - 192 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total word count of the post | 28 - 124 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Punctuation Style 17
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hyphen usage per 1000 words | 3-39 per 1k words | HIGH | STEADY |
| Colon usage per 1000 words | 0-21 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Comma usage per 1000 words | 0-44 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Em dash (—) usage per 1000 words | 0-1 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 |
| Multiple question marks per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of sentences ending with a question | 3% | LOW | VARIES |
| Question marks per 1000 words | 0-8 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Quotation mark usage per 1000 words | 0-5 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Semicolon usage per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Ellipsis (...) usage per 1000 words | 0-8 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| En dash (–) usage per 1000 words | 0-3 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Exclamation marks per 1000 words | 0-39 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Parentheses usage per 1000 words | 0-13 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences ending with exclamation | 0 - 35 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences trailing off with ellipsis | 2% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Quotes & Narrative 10
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Presence of dialogue attribution patterns | 1% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Lines starting with quotation marks | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Average length of quoted passages | 0 - 179 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Lines using past tense | 48% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Number of narrative/story signals | 0.5 - 2.3 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Number of quotation blocks | 0.0 - 1.1 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Total characters in quoted content | 0 - 202 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Use of story transitions | 12% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether the post contains quotations | 31% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether the post tells a story | 36% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Sentence Rhythm 16
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average number of clauses per sentence | 1.5 - 2.7 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average number of words per sentence | 10 - 23 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average words per sentence | 10 - 23 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How much sentence length varies (normalized) | 68% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How often paragraphs contain just one sentence | 44% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Length of your longer sentences (80th percentile) | 14 - 40 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Length of your shorter sentences (20th percentile) | 2 - 11 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Overall sentence complexity | 13 - 61 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Parenthetical breaks per 1000 words | 0-13 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences over 20 words | 29% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of sentences under 8 words | 26% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Typical sentence length (median) | 8 - 23 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Variation in clause count across sentences | 0.0 - 4.9 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Variation in sentence lengths | 4 - 19 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Word count of shortest sentence | 1 - 10 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Word count of the longest sentence | 18 - 43 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
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