We all know the quote: “Do one thing every day that scares you.” For many people, that means posting on LinkedIn.
The professional social network is notorious for its cringe-worthy, performative posts. But those posts also generate a lot of engagement and increase the profile of the poster.
Now that everyone is worried about building their “brand,” people are wondering, should I post more?
To unravel the LinkedIn riddle, BI’s Jacob Zinkula, Juliana Kaplan, and Henry Chandonnet spoke to marketers, PR experts, and creators about the fine line between getting your name out there and completely embarrass yourself.
The vibe on LinkedIn has always been all over the place. For a while, it was home to people explaining how encouraging their kids to eat vegetables applied to B2B sales.
Then the pandemic hit and all hell broke loose. That meant being cooped up at home people started sharing too much…a lot. Others used it as a quasi-dating website.
Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter splintered the social media landscape, reinvigorating LinkedIn. Add the rise of AI doldrumsand posting on the platform has seen a boost.
In the meantime, one of the ways to use the platform is to actually help you find work (you know, its original intention) is still hotly debated.
Feeling ashamed while trying to build your brand is somewhat ironic.
We all have to do things in life that we don’t necessarily enjoy. But if you force yourself to constantly write posts that make you cringe as soon as you press publish, a vicious cycle begins.
The more successful these messages are, the more you are expected to continue producing them.
Maybe you see it as a way to network yourself and find a better job. Greater engagement means more attention, which means a greater chance that a recruiter will think of you the next time he or she fills a position.
But when they do knock, they may expect to see the same person behind the LinkedIn posts that caught their attention. After all, that’s what you built your brand around.
So the next time you think about a LinkedIn post that might make you cringe, consider this: Why am I doing it in the first place?
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to post this on my LinkedIn.
