Things that make me cringe on LinkedIn

LinkedIn was intended to be a business networking platform. A place where you could connect with fellow workers to share ideas and gain insights. For some reason in 2023, that seemed to have changed... a lot...

Here are my pet peeves and I'm sure many of you would agree.

Personal posts

I'm not against personal posts, but seriously, that platform isn't LinkedIn. I'm completely fine if it's on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or whatever platform you fancy but nobody is really interested in your personal happenings on LinkedIn.

Serial sharing and blind reposts

We all love sharing information and reposting interesting articles but let's all be mindful of it. For every repost or share, I'dmake sureit's vetted for legitimacy and assessed for relevance to my larger connections/network. If I'm interested in a particular section of an article, I'll occasionally personalise my message.

Stop spreading fake news and articles you have not read beyond the headlines. Stop sharing corporate posts just because you work for an organisation. Stop sharing posts becausethey relate to your job. Last but not least, personalizing your reposts or posts doesn't take much.

Random information, tutorials or what have you

We already have plenty of random info on the web, so we don't need more of it on LinkedIn.

I don't need to explain why the post above and below infuriates me. It shouldn't even exist.

Status updates

I'm an advocate for status updates when it comes to happenings or events that we want to market and share with our larger connection base. For example, live updates from an event happening at the moment or a post reporting on a successful event.

Having said that, the post below is just "I'm lost for words". Nobody needs to know where you are heading, what you are doing in transit and the weather. This could be appropriate for other platforms (Facebook is essentially a catch-all) but it doesn't belong on LinkedIn.

Illegal content

I love technical training and education, but I have never been a big fan of technical certifications. I think it's partly because vendors have implemented certification programs to make money rather than educate, but that's a different discussion.

Keeping it in mind, I've seen countless posts and sharings on certification dumps on LinkedIn. In case you didn't know, certification dumps are illegal. If you pay for this, you support their cause and dilute the value of certifications. We need to stop liking and commenting on these posts! LinkedIn can definitely do a better job policing this.

CV plastering

Times are hard and I can appreciate how difficult it is to land gigs in the current climate. There are many ways to get yourself front and centre with recruiters and head hunters, but I know for a fact that sharing your CV or resume openly often have an opposite effect of what you are trying to achieve.

I've never come across a hiring manager thats clicked on such a post and gone "ah hah! I've found my candidate!" Being a hiring manager for many years, I've never done that ever. Sharing your CV as such just shows how desperate and unprofessional you are instead of highlighting your competency.

Random analogies

Every one loves a great analogy or quote. Actually in some ways, I don't mind it coming up every now and then on LinkedIn when its well curated and produced. What irks me most is when someone takes a viral video of sorts to illustrate an analogy of sorts. Often time is poorly made and resembles something thats better suited for TikTok. I'm not gonna disagree that its hilarious sometimes, but its still inappropriate to be sharing it on this platform.

If you are one of those above, it's not too late to reconsider your approach to LinkedIn.

For me, I would always evaluate, if a particular post will benefit or make sense to a C-Level or if it is something a C-Level would repost. If the content is good enough for C-Level's, it is safe for general consumption. If you are unsure, then it's best to pass.

Unlike other social media platforms, what we post on LinkedIn is reflective of our work personas and professionalism. Not to mention, it will save me from filtering out a whole lot of junk.