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Why is LinkedIn so cringe?

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251–260 of 290 posts

Re: Why is LinkedIn so cringe?

#251

LinkedIn is as cringe as the corporate world. We should be asking why the latter is cringe. LinkedIn is just a symptom.

LinkedIn is the kitchen of outsorcing center of American or German corporation. Ivan with Rajeesh are discussing the point of KPIs, then Rachel enters and asks whether the coffe machine is broken. It is not broken, just nobody have ever cleaned it. There is no happy end here.

Re: Why is LinkedIn so cringe?

#252
post #198

I deleted my profile a while back after a data leak and I was getting spammed on that email. The cringe factor of continually being "recommended" for crap was pathetic. That was even before the feed and the posts and the inspirational nonsense. It's performative corporate wankery that HR people love because it lets them think that they're promoting their corporate owner's "triple bottom line" and "social stakeholders…

The bottom line is there to mark low hanging fruits.

Re: Why is LinkedIn so cringe?

#253
post #12

Why is this article cringe? The problem is not LinkedIn, it’s people.

LinkedIn has been doubling down on this though. In the past week I've been hearing this new podcast ad from them about how "LinkedIn helps you be you real self". It's pretty bad. Can't find it right now but I've been hearing it non stop for a few days now.

What if people really want to be like that and go "wHOO AMAZING success HIGH FIVES!!!" but all the cynical people stop them from doing so?

Re: Why is LinkedIn so cringe?

#254
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every community slides into its own stereotype like becoming a caricature of itself, but it's not objectively a bad thing, just strange to outsiders while the regulars are just fine with HN as it is. Oops, I mean LinkedIn.

I think the combination of real identities and the fact that you expect past, current and future employers and colleagues to see you on LinkedIn means “positivity” and affirmation is essentially forced on you, lest you be seen as “negative” or not a “team player”. No one will ever contradict anything on LinkedIn because of that, which is why it becomes such a circle jerk.

I commented on something on LinkedIn in 2013 and, while completely not relevant, out of context etc, I get it thrown at me by investors and partners to this day. It was a remark that was correct at the time for my situation; it doesn't apply anymore now, 8 years later, but seems that people are not very good with that. So yeah; be fake and positive only on LinkedIn if you care about that kind of crap.

Re: Why is LinkedIn so cringe?

#255
post #216
post #7

LinkedIn probably has a net benefit for your career by keeping up to date and checking the messages once a week, but I cannot get over the awkwardness of seeing total BS stories and thousands of replies saying "YES! AMEN!". "I was running late to an interview this morning but stopped to help a man who fell off of his bike and fixed it up for him. Afterwards I bought him a coffee and talked about life. He mentioned ho…

Both the comments on this thread would fit well on https://www.shlinkedin.com/ , if you haven't seen it, it is basically the sarcastic version of linkedin that you all live in. Personally, Linkedin has been incredible for staying in touch with a large range of business contacts over the last 10+ years. It's provided me far more value than any other social network -- but the feed is mostly a joke :).

Second that. I only add people I actually do know IRL and most of whom I have met. The feed is something I avoid although I do post occasionally with stuff I find interesting. Only look really at the posts of a very few other people I know. Is also a useful place to keep a record of learning and achievements. I look at it about once every 2 weeks. That is more than enough. More often is torture.

Re: Why is LinkedIn so cringe?

#256

LinkedIn has the atmosphere of working at a 200K employee multinational that even the CEO isn't really energized by. It's honestly amusing how similar it is. Whenever I go on there I think of a job I had once in which people tried to one up each other for "most robotic". Beep boop. The policy section 5 b says you have used Beep 7 of your allotted holiday days. Boop Please report your time sheet (my old manager, livin…

Holy mother of god are you my coworker? I swear to god I went through this not two weeks ago.

Please report your time sheet was downright triggering

Re: Why is LinkedIn so cringe?

#257
I mainly use LinkedIn to see how much better my former colleagues are now doing, compared to my career progress. When not stalking former colleagues I A/B test[1] my spam posts about my canvas library[2] to see which variants generate more views of my profile.

[1] Not proper A/B testing. The variants get posted once a month or so, making the results meaningless to anything beyond my ego.

[2] Link available on request.

Re: Why is LinkedIn so cringe?

#258

I never understood why I always got so depressed reading LinkedIn, until I read The Gervais Principle by Venkatesh Rao. And then I saw that LinkedIn consists almost entirely of clueless people talking to other clueless people, and exclusively in posturetalk (these are Rao’s terms - “clueless” means something specific). And if you haven’t read The Gervais Principle, I highly recommend it, although it may bum you out.

I thought I am the only one who get depressed everytime I open LinkedIn

Re: Why is LinkedIn so cringe?

#259
post #26
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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