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Have you recently logged on to LinkedIn only to find that the kid from your high school who never left your hometown is now authoring thought leadership on neuroscience?
Welcome to the 10th circle of hell: your LinkedIn feed. It’s chaos in there — a mishmash of bragging, oversharing, and patronizing, all inexplicably written in haiku form.
The good news?
It’s not just you. According to Fortune, the app has gotten cringier since launching in 2002. Like a car crash, it’s hard to look away, and that’s good for business:
- LinkedIn reports that its site sees 8m+ posts and comments daily.
- The platform saw a 40% increase in content engagement from July 2021 to 2022.
As the site mutated…
… from purely professional to all-out social, it spawned a new offspring: The LinkedInfluencer.
They have dramatic, well-lit headshots. Their bios read “ex-big-tech-firm” and “3x founder.” They have 5k connections and preach about #passiveincome. And they can make a lot of money doin’ it:
- Some creators have reported earning millions on the platform.
- LinkedIn launched its creator program in 2021 with a $25m investment.
- Over 11m members have “creator mode” turned on, and 18k+ users publish newsletters through the site.
Where there’s cringe…
… there are people making fun of it on the internet. The r/LinkedInLunatics subreddit and @StateOfLinkedIn Twitter account keep the humblebrags (and crying CEOs) in check.
Now, for the love of God, step away from the “kudos to you” button and don’t you dare try to “pick our brains” with a cold DM.
