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Ask HN: Why did LinkedIn become what it is today?

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Re: Ask HN: Why did LinkedIn become what it is today?

#11
post #9

Politics and war discussions have been increasingly common at work too. Companies have promoting ERGs in the hope of diversity and in the name of "bringing your authentic self to work", and these groups have become a hotbed of activism. I've witnessed flamewars in work channels on the topics of BLM, war in Gaza etc in the past two companies I've worked.

what is ERG?

[edit] ok this is news to me So what are Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)?

Employee Resource Groups are voluntary, employee-led groups whose aim is to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with the organizations they serve.

Re: Ask HN: Why did LinkedIn become what it is today?

#13
You need to tune the algorithm.

Are you following people who are pushing politics on their LinkedIns?

I've found following relevant VCs, PMs, Academics, and corporate leadership has drastically improved my LinkedIn with almost zero noise.

Mute and unfollow people who post too much politics on LinkedIn, and engage with content that is more relevant to you. The algorithm will tune itself for you accordingly

Re: Ask HN: Why did LinkedIn become what it is today?

#14

It feels like people want to be "though leaders" and boost their personal brand. Heck people are using to pick up dates. People are pushing a lot of political stuff too. It is kind of turning into facebook.

LinkedIn Lunatics

https://www.reddit.com/r/LinkedInLunatics/

Re: Ask HN: Why did LinkedIn become what it is today?

#16
post #10

About a decade ago, we’d refer to LinkedIn as “the network everyone has, but nobody is on.” Meaning, everyone has an account but there’s no reason to log in unless you’re seeking an employment change. Looks like they tripled-down on features to change it. Always seeking DAU.

> Looks like they tripled-down on features to change it. Always seeking DAU.

The irony is that all the extra nonsense keeps a lot of us away even more. I think even the next time I want to change jobs, there are platforms I'll use before I go back to LinkedIn.

I guess it's like any social media platform. Once you invite too many people, you dilute the original purpose and community, and just end up with memes and cat photos.

Re: Ask HN: Why did LinkedIn become what it is today?

#17

It feels like people want to be "though leaders" and boost their personal brand. Heck people are using to pick up dates. People are pushing a lot of political stuff too. It is kind of turning into facebook.

I think this is a huge part of it. It's the natural extension of "all publicity is good publicity" as manifest at the individual level. I'm actually less annoyed by the off topic things, which are easy to gloss over, and more annoyed by the rah-rah capitalism posts. "Look at this person who overcame overwhelming odds, you should too!" "Here's a webinar from the B2C company I work at that has no relevance to me or you but my company gamified spamming my personal social media with it so here we are." "Enjoy this fluff story about how we took an afternoon off to do a mandatory team building volunteer project that was way less impactful than if we donated even a fraction of the revenue our company made during the same three hours."

Re: Ask HN: Why did LinkedIn become what it is today?

#18
post #11
post #9

Politics and war discussions have been increasingly common at work too. Companies have promoting ERGs in the hope of diversity and in the name of "bringing your authentic self to work", and these groups have become a hotbed of activism. I've witnessed flamewars in work channels on the topics of BLM, war in Gaza etc in the past two companies I've worked.

what is ERG? [edit] ok this is news to me So what are Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)? Employee Resource Groups are voluntary, employee-led groups whose aim is to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with the organizations they serve.

I guess it's this: https://www.greatplacetowork.com/resources/blog/what-are-emp...

Re: Ask HN: Why did LinkedIn become what it is today?

#19
Don't worry, with Microsoft's recent and extremely aggressive Copilot infestations[0][1][2] it's only a matter of time before LinkedIn becomes the "AI social network."

0. https://9to5google.com/2024/01/03/microsoft-edge-ai-browser/

1. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/01/ai-comes-for-your-pc...

2. https://www.techradar.com/computing/windows/fed-up-with-wind...

Re: Ask HN: Why did LinkedIn become what it is today?

#20
post #11
post #9

Politics and war discussions have been increasingly common at work too. Companies have promoting ERGs in the hope of diversity and in the name of "bringing your authentic self to work", and these groups have become a hotbed of activism. I've witnessed flamewars in work channels on the topics of BLM, war in Gaza etc in the past two companies I've worked.

what is ERG? [edit] ok this is news to me So what are Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)? Employee Resource Groups are voluntary, employee-led groups whose aim is to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with the organizations they serve.

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