In the last few weeks, I’ve been spending more time than usual there as I’ve been assessing various work opportunities. But I keep getting waylaid by the LinkedIn Bros and their various avatars. First off, LinkedIn Bros are not just men. It’s a gender-fluid term keeping with their intellect-fluid nature. It seems managing directors, CEOs and managers are more interested in posting about anything other than their work or their company’s good deeds.
For all us in communications, LinkedIn is the one tool that we recommend to any business leader to use to communicate what is happening with her or his company to peers, potential clients and employees, and to the media. But it seems that apart from a few posts, everything other than work is shared there.
And if you went by just the social personas of working professionals on the site, you’d think that the workplace ecosystem is full of the happiest, nicest, kindest, most hardworking people ever. And everyone seems to have so much time to write 600-word posts praising themselves. Everyone is always so euphoric here – they’re elated, amazed, grateful, touched, blessed. Good grief.
Much like on Facebook, social personas on LinkedIn are in a whole new VR universe. You have startup whizkids who share the most absurd experiences. There’s the good Samaritan CEO who offered water to a food delivery agent and shares a homily on how we must all be kind to others – not realising that this is really basic decency, and not Mother Teresa level kindness.
Or those 10 people who have posted the same story, because they all copied it from somewhere. Then there are others who will tell you how they underwent a liver transplant, or a death in the family, and were back at work in two days, because that’s how dedicated they are to building their company. They leave out the bit about having an ecosystem at home replete with in-laws, nannies, maids and chauffeurs that allow for such courage.
Then there are those who have decided to use LinkedIn as Facebook or Instagram. So, you’ll have CEOs and MDs posting multiple pictures of themselves at various ‘work parties’ swilling champagne, grinning into the camera. Not realising that when their companies start laying off people or not paying bonuses, everyone will look at these pictures and wonder whether some of that money could have been put to better use. In any case, these posts do nothing to promote their companies. Then there are those who have decided to make it a greeting cards menagerie. The latest one I saw was multiple posts on International Day of Families. This follows close on the heels of posting what should be internal communications for employees wishing everyone on every festival from Ramzan to Hannukah.
Everyone seems to be in an alternate universe with no connection to reality. Whether it’s companies posting about gender diversity but having just men in the boardroom. Or male business heads who think posting about how they go home and ‘make time’ to cook dinner for their kids is something to brag about.
LinkedInSiders, just tell us what’s happening in your company, if you have some best practices that are not fictional, and if you’re hiring or not. Corporate life can be trying enough without wading through made-up posts. But it seems the more things change, the more they remain the same. Now we don’t have to log on to different social media sites, one site can fit all. Your work-fake life balance is just a click’n’post away.
