Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To hate LinkedIn with a passion?

57 replies

Thepeopleversuswork · 01/08/2025 10:41

I know, I know, it's the only acceptable "professional" social media network and its essential for finding jobs and for building your brand and building connections bla bla bla. I use it for a living and I recommend clients use it.

But its just professional sycophancy dressed up as "insight" with a very transparent veneer of "authenticity". People post self-serving shit designed to suck up to their boss/shareholders or be picked up by algorithms and people line up to say "so insightful" and other platitudes. A tiny fraction of the things posted on LI are genuine or thoughtful. They are all just corporate drivel disguised as commentary.

For all their toxicity and addictive qualities (and God knows I hate Elon Musk) at least X, Facebook and Insta are, dare I say it, real?

OP posts:
CalamityGanon · 01/08/2025 14:33

TeachesOfPeaches · 01/08/2025 13:39

The stray dog that the poster so selflessly fed in the street with his last £3 turned out to be the CEO of the company he was about to interview at. What are the chances! He got the job!

10 lessons leaders can learn about feeding stray dogs equally or something.

Oh yes and some story about the poster’s child who stood up for the bullied child in the playground (complete with photo of said child) or some other such guff complete with moral of how we can replicate his child’s exemplary behaviour in the workplace. So nauseating and so FB.

My particular pet hate posting ‘Thank-you Dave for such an interesting and informative input today. Can’t wait to get back to the office and put your ideas into action’ Oh do fuck off to the far side of fuck off town 🤮

pettingzoo · 01/08/2025 14:17

I've just got on LinkedIn because I'm career changing (not a thing in my previous sector, very much a thing in my new one).

But sweet lord - I would never need to work again if I got a pound for each post that starts with 'Thrilled to announce... ' or 'Honoured to be...' or 'Delighted that...'. I just want to tell them all to FUCK OFF as I desperately search for a job before my redundancy money runs out...

Thepeopleversuswork · 01/08/2025 14:11

Teenagequeenwithaloadedgun · 01/08/2025 14:06

I also hate charitable posts that are really just virtue signalling and an excuse for a day out.

Stuff like 'had a great day with company A playing golf and sunbathing. We raised 8 pence for charity, well done all'.

Coupled with a picture of them in a company A bra top and hot pants.

Yes... or pictures of the backs of of loads of white middle aged men in business suits sitting in a conference centre with a whiteboard visible in the corner of the screen with some cryptic and self-aggrandising caption "I love it when a plan comes together!"

This is supposed to be interesting to whom, exactly?

At least in the days of tabloid newspapers people got that you have to think about the audience rather than just spaff it onto the internet.

OP posts:
Teenagequeenwithaloadedgun · 01/08/2025 14:06

I also hate charitable posts that are really just virtue signalling and an excuse for a day out.

Stuff like 'had a great day with company A playing golf and sunbathing. We raised 8 pence for charity, well done all'.

Coupled with a picture of them in a company A bra top and hot pants.

TyroleanKnockabout · 01/08/2025 14:05

It’s unbelievably cringe on there, yes.

Coolasfeck · 01/08/2025 14:03

activecurtains · 01/08/2025 12:50

I’m with you OP! I have to use it too but the frequent eye rolling it causes can give me a migraine.

Of particular annoyance is the line spacing on some posts, presumably designed to make you think a great piece of wisdom is about to be immediately downloaded into your soul.

Into your soul.

Just like this.

And then the ‘incredible wisdom’ turns out to be a perfectly common sense solution to a very ordinary problem - something like ‘if you want to retain your staff, you have to be nice to them’. Oh really? Wow, that had never occurred to me! But then everyone leaps on the comments with handclaps, praising the poster for their messiah-like wisdom.

There’s a good account on X called ‘LinkedIn lunatics’ and it shares the best of the worst.

Edited

I read ‘LinkedIn lunatics’ on Reddit. It’s hilarious.

Thepeopleversuswork · 01/08/2025 14:00

TeachesOfPeaches · 01/08/2025 13:40

Here’s what my father’s horrific cancer death taught me about b2b SaaS sales…

Thank you. See also:

  • How Gaza taught me to be grateful for Great AI tools!
  • Why running an ultramarathon every day gives me a new perspective on organising paperclips
  • A masterclass in building excel and how it will change your life!
  • I've worked with XX for years and I've found him/her to be the most dynamic operator!

With emoji-like bullet points like you're punctuating for a group of year 1 kids. And the veneer of spirituality and revelation wrapped around endless screeds of people trying to sell other people shit they don't need by pretending to know and care about them.

OP posts:
Perplexed20 · 01/08/2025 13:57

I suspect I'm being thick!

Perplexed20 · 01/08/2025 13:56

How do you hide them?! Do you have to unfolllow?

Teenagequeenwithaloadedgun · 01/08/2025 13:56

Definitely YANBU.

I have someone in my feed who does crap restaurant reviews (he works in a completely different field), always accompanied by a selfie of him with a slightly depressed looking waiter who clearly just wants to get on with their job.

Someone else posts such insights as 'invoices should be paid on time' and 'resolve customer queries quickly'. His boss then comments at how clever and insightful he is and that he should be an influencer.

Someone else wrote paragraphs and paragraphs about issues with recruiting. Then at the end, the proposed solution was to use him because he's really good.

Most of LinkedIn is meaningless now, it's turning into Facebook.

Thepeopleversuswork · 01/08/2025 13:53

Vintique · 01/08/2025 13:25

Look up LinkedIn Lunatics on Reddit and lean in

These are great, thank you!

But honestly so much more interesting than the drivel I have to post/edit/read in my job.

OP posts:
Famalamallama · 01/08/2025 13:51

Thepeopleversuswork · 01/08/2025 10:41

I know, I know, it's the only acceptable "professional" social media network and its essential for finding jobs and for building your brand and building connections bla bla bla. I use it for a living and I recommend clients use it.

But its just professional sycophancy dressed up as "insight" with a very transparent veneer of "authenticity". People post self-serving shit designed to suck up to their boss/shareholders or be picked up by algorithms and people line up to say "so insightful" and other platitudes. A tiny fraction of the things posted on LI are genuine or thoughtful. They are all just corporate drivel disguised as commentary.

For all their toxicity and addictive qualities (and God knows I hate Elon Musk) at least X, Facebook and Insta are, dare I say it, real?

I'm with you. The worst posts are the ones that are

spaced

out

like

this

And the virtue-signalling ones that say things like 'I told a high paying client where to go because they were rude to a member of my team'.

That said, there can be some good content on there. You just need to wade through some nonsense!

HangingOver · 01/08/2025 13:47

JayJayj · 01/08/2025 13:19

It’s exactly like facebook and instagram. Just work related instead of life related. All dressed up posts showing best part of someone’s life for likes.

Nah Instagram is waaaaay funnier

TeachesOfPeaches · 01/08/2025 13:40

Here’s what my father’s horrific cancer death taught me about b2b SaaS sales…

TeachesOfPeaches · 01/08/2025 13:39

The stray dog that the poster so selflessly fed in the street with his last £3 turned out to be the CEO of the company he was about to interview at. What are the chances! He got the job!

10 lessons leaders can learn about feeding stray dogs equally or something.

XXLfiles · 01/08/2025 13:27

I love how mental it is. It's absolute useless lately, but good laugh sometimes.
Yes to linkedin lunatics😂

Vintique · 01/08/2025 13:25

Look up LinkedIn Lunatics on Reddit and lean in

IMissSparkling · 01/08/2025 13:21

It's not compulsory. I'm managing to have a perfectly successful career in IT without being on LinkedIn.

JayJayj · 01/08/2025 13:19

It’s exactly like facebook and instagram. Just work related instead of life related. All dressed up posts showing best part of someone’s life for likes.

activecurtains · 01/08/2025 12:50

I’m with you OP! I have to use it too but the frequent eye rolling it causes can give me a migraine.

Of particular annoyance is the line spacing on some posts, presumably designed to make you think a great piece of wisdom is about to be immediately downloaded into your soul.

Into your soul.

Just like this.

And then the ‘incredible wisdom’ turns out to be a perfectly common sense solution to a very ordinary problem - something like ‘if you want to retain your staff, you have to be nice to them’. Oh really? Wow, that had never occurred to me! But then everyone leaps on the comments with handclaps, praising the poster for their messiah-like wisdom.

There’s a good account on X called ‘LinkedIn lunatics’ and it shares the best of the worst.

Thepeopleversuswork · 01/08/2025 12:46

@jbm16

In that case, use it but scroll past the meaningless posts, not sure it's that difficult.

The "meaningless posts" are what I have to interact with.

OP posts:
JasmineTea11 · 01/08/2025 12:46

I despise it so much, whenever I have to go on there I feel a bit sick. Probably why I have never made any meaningful professional connections on it!

mynameiscalypso · 01/08/2025 12:45

I hide people who post meaningless shite and just follow those people who actually know what they’re talking about and share subject-related content. It’s the main way I keep up to date with the industry but I’ve worked hard to curate my feed.

jbm16 · 01/08/2025 12:40

Thepeopleversuswork · 01/08/2025 12:37

I have to use it. It's literally in my job description.

In that case, use it but scroll past the meaningless posts, not sure it's that difficult.

iamnotalemon · 01/08/2025 12:39

I have to agree with you. Unfortunately I need to be on it too, otherwise I wouldn’t be.