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Why is LinkedIn so cringe?

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Re: Why is LinkedIn so cringe?

#51

Post by aj7 »

jsnk wrote: post #25

The main cause behind Linkedin being cringe is because it's fake and phony. There's so much fake positivity, humbleness, appreciation, virtuousness and empathy from every part of the corporate world now. This used to be at least guarded amongst upper level management, who endured this garbage but at a great financial gain. Now this corporate cringe has penetrated the general public. People who are making peanuts are…

The work world is a bloody mess today compared to the world I joined in 1979. It almost resembles an environment where you have to join a gang, but threats can come from anywhere.

And people wonder why old people, obviously closer to death, are happier.

Re: Why is LinkedIn so cringe?

#52

Post by subpixel »

LinkedIn shares something with Facebook, in that it is a giant clusterfuck of additional bullshit on top of a few key features, and a critical mass of participants, that fulfill the promise of social networking.

100% owe my career to LinkedIn, despite having never posted or commented or liked or joined a damn thing.

The access to people and information is, alas, worth the cringe.

Re: Why is LinkedIn so cringe?

#53

Post by joezydeco »

Can someone explain the people that post gushing thank you posts on their way out of the company?

I don't care what amazing next step of your journey awaits you, I want to know if you quit or if you were fired.

Re: Why is LinkedIn so cringe?

#55

Post by kajaktum »

exdsq wrote: 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…

This is true whenever your real identity is at stake tho? Almost everyone sanitizes their views in the public so much so there's no opinion in there anymore.

Re: Why is LinkedIn so cringe?

#56

Post by lopatin »

projectileboy wrote: post #3

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 love the Gervais Principle, but only as a cynical joke that can sometimes be applied to real life. There's really no need to read the book. If you're interested in a laugh, just see the blog post [1].

The gist of it is that there are only three types of people who work in organizations:

1. At the top of the food chain are the sociopaths. Executives.

2. Below it are the clueless, the mid-manager who works nights and weekends out of a sense of loyalty to the company. Unlike the sociopaths and the losers (explained below), they don't have it within themselves to straight up leave the company for something better. To them, this is life.

3. And below that, are the losers. That's everyone else. The pawns in this little corporate game designed by the sociopaths and coordinated by the clueless. They won't be promoted. But unlike the clueless, they have a sense of freedom. They can go work for a competitor if it pays more. Or they'll have a real work-life balance, etc..

It (should be) no more than a humorous take on corporate culture. Don't try to take away any life lessons from this.

[1] https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-...

Re: Why is LinkedIn so cringe?

#57

Post by rcurry »

ok_dad wrote: post #36
Jenk wrote: post #20

Having office-shared with a recruiting firm, and having worked in several startups that have a "long-sales"/"closer" department.. I can attest that LinkedIn is exactly what it is like in the day-to-day jobs in the flesh, too. Lots of gongs/bells/claxons, always followed by _so_ many high-fives and a round of applause. Everyone knows it's bullshit, but this kind of toxic/fake positivity is demanded, and weirdly, it wo…

Reminded me of the emails we constantly got with the subject “BANG A GONG!!!” at my last work place. It was only for sales achievements, and I never saw an email like that for any other department. It was nice they used the same subject every time, so I could filter them out.

Heh. Reminds me of this time a startup I worked for got acquired by a big financial firm in New York City - we roll into work the first day and at like 10:00 AM this woman starts ringing an actual cowbell and shouting “Standup! Standup Everybody!” They would literally call the developers into the daily standup like they were a herd of cattle.

Re: Why is LinkedIn so cringe?

#60

Post by selimthegrim »

version_five wrote: post #41
er4hn wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Show HN: LinkedIn created over 1 weekend (written in Rust, uses CSS instead of JS)

Someone made a satirical front page of typical HN stories which is right along the lines of what you posted. It was really funny and still relevant even though a few years old now, I can't find it unfortunately

Because it’s on 4chan
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