Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Personal Experience
- The RPG Analogy
- Thoughts from Twitter/X
- What does the future of LinkedIn look like?
- Last thoughts
Introduction
Remember when LinkedIn was a place to connect with professionals, find job opportunities, and share industry news? It was supposed to be a platform for genuine networking and career growth. However, it’s evolved into something far different. Instead of being a hub for professional connection, LinkedIn has become a stage where people perform 🤡, inflating their successes 🤹 and presenting a polished version of themselves 🎭 that’s often far from reality.
Personal Experience
When I first joined LinkedIn, I was excited. I thought it would be a great way to network with like-minded professionals and discover new opportunities. But my enthusiasm quickly waned as I began to notice a trend. My feed was flooded with self-promotional posts, corporate jargon, and thank you notes that felt more performative than sincere. I received countless messages from people trying to pitch me questionable business ventures or asking for investments in companies that seemed dubious at best.
One incident that stands out was being contacted by an entrepreneur who was gaining fame at the time. He painted a picture of success and opportunity, but it wasn’t long before he was convicted of money embezzlement in the United States and extradited. That was a turning point for me. I realized how easy it was for people to fabricate their lives on LinkedIn. Eventually, I decided to deactivate my account, and I haven’t looked back since. Honestly, it feels much better now.
The RPG Analogy
LinkedIn has turned into a sort of Role Playing Game (RPG). In an RPG, players create characters with exaggerated abilities and stories, trying to fit into a particular role within the game. On LinkedIn, users do something similar. They craft profiles that highlight their successes while downplaying or ignoring their failures. They speak in corporate lingo and share posts that make them look like the next Mark Zuckerberg, even if they are just average in real life. The platform has become a space where people feel the need to act a certain way to fit in, which leads to a lack of authenticity. It’s not about genuine connections anymore; it’s about who can create the most impressive facade.
Thoughts from Twitter/X
I’m not the only one who feels this way. Many people on Twitter/X have shared similar thoughts about the lack of genuineness on LinkedIn. Here are some opinions I came across:
These opinions really hit home for me and reflect a lot of my own frustrations with how LinkedIn is right now.
What does the future of LinkedIn look like?
LinkedIn's shift from a professional networking site to a platform for self-promotion and superficial interactions is nostalgic of the rise and fall of other social media sites like MySpace. MySpace was once a leading social platform, but it eventually lost its relevance as users migrated to more genuine and engaging platforms. Does LinkedIn risks a similar fate if it continues on this trajectory?
Last thoughts
LinkedIn can still be a valuable platform, but it needs to shift away from the performative and superficial culture it has cultivated. Authenticity is key to meaningful connections and professional growth. I wrote an article about how networking on LinkedIn is so overrated these days, go check it out if you have a minute. For now, I’m happier staying off LinkedIn and avoiding the stress of navigating its current landscape. If LinkedIn can address these issues, it might just become a place for genuine professional interactions once again.