LinkedIn – The Early Days

Oh, the Golden days of LinkedIn. It was simple – you updated your profile, connected with old bosses and co-workers, and maybe even applied for a job or two.

Fast forward 20 years and now LinkedIn mimics the majority of other social platforms. And herein lies the problem.  LinkedIn has lost its focus.

You see posts that absolutely have no place on LinkedIn and quite frankly have me questioning sanity. And I’m not a super serious person (if you haven’t noticed by the tone of some of my blogs). But add in the questionable DMs, spam and scams, LinkedIn needs a serious brand re-fresh.

That said, some posts are worse than others. So, let’s take a look at some of the posts that walk the fine line of being inappropriate.

Walking the Fine Line – The Most Common Inappropriate Posts

The Oversharing Olympics

The classic overshare is real on LinkedIn. I took a break for just a couple years and feel like I have come back to Facebook, not LinkedIn. The personal life overshare has now reached epic heights on all social platforms.

Polarizing Political Views

It still shocks me the amount of people who will put their jobs at jeopardy to post an extreme political view. My person opinion – politics have no place in the workplace.  It’s just one of those things best set aside for personal time.

It’s obvious not everyone shares this opinion. And I’m not sure what they think they will get out of it, because do you really think you will change someone’s mind with just a post?

Best case everyone agrees with you, and worst you lose your job. I just don’t understand how if the benefits don’t outweigh the risks, why anyone would want to walk down that road.

Hustle Culture Shaming

We get it. We really do. You work 20 hour days and sleep in a tent under your bed at work. Which is great, but don’t hustle culture-shame me into thinking this should be the norm.

Because it’s not something everyone can or should do. People have family and personal lives that can take priority.  And there’s no reason for someone to make you feel guilty about that.

AI Written Posts

AI posts all sound the same. They even have similar topics. But if I wanted to read one, I could just ask ChatGPT for the information so why bother posting?

Fake Stories or Highly Embellished BS

If you’re going to post something so far-fetched the average person can look at it and go “Yeah I’ll take things that never happened for 800 Alex” you’re better off not posting them at all.

Once again, for a future employer – you are only going to lose credibility for your personal brand. Keep it real.

Ranting the Day Away

I quit most social media for this reason. If you need to blow off some steam – you should.

But having rant-fests for the world to see isn’t helpful.  Sure, you might feel better for a short time, but how do you think people will perceive you after it? Especially if one of them is a new potential employer?  I’m sure they’ll go with a hard pass.

Hit the gym. Have an adult beverage. Call a friend or a therapist. Anything is better than posting it to LinkedIn.

Religious Righteousness

Everyone is entitled to their own religious beliefs. And if you are very much into church, great! If you wouldn’t give a 20-minute sermon about your beliefs in the office, so why do it on LinkedIn?

Call me old fashioned – but maybe some of these things are better left for other social media platforms.

Reasons Not to Post Questionable Content on LinkedIn

1. Nothing ever gets deleted from the internet.
2. There countless sites for ridiculous LinkedIn Posts – do you really want to be featured on one? Ex: A subreddit for insufferable LinkedIn content
3. Your on-line presence is your brand.