I know I'm old, but I now find LinkedIn to be my favorite social media site, and I'll explain why.

Skin in the game. Yes, it's full of fluffy sounding things, but with a little patience and reading between lines, it's extremely valuable and here's why:

Overwhelmingly most of the time -- when someone posts anything there -- it has the potential to directly quickly improve, or more importantly destroy, their own LIVELIHOOD. It feels like the opposite, but making the choice to post there is a huge risk.

Now, that might come with fluff, of course -- but in a way you could reasonably argue it is the REALEST social media site of them all.

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kmijyiyxfbklao 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Well if that gets us LinkedIn, we should move as far away from that as possible, and not listen to the people who want real names everywhere.

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podgorniy 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> destroy, their own LIVELIHOOD

Do you have examples of such occasions when the linkedin post was actually the cause?

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dijit 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

My postings on LinkedIn have definitely had direct consequences in my professional life.

I consider them all good because ultimately if you get upset by the way I behave then that's probably going to be true if we work together also.

Sometimes people like to tell me that I'm very authentic and it's clear that I'm not trying to suck up to anyone, which they respect. Some people quietly retreat from me and I find out later that it's because I hurt their feelings inadvertently by shitting on AI or calling out web development as largely being inefficient in resources or something.

	▲	jrm4 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Love this response, and as some one who does perhaps a bit too much spending/wasting time on other types of social media, including here, I've made a conscious decision to post on LinkedIn more. And it's such a difference. It forces me to slow down and think about a lot of things. The most important being: Is this even worth posting AT ALL? And then, okay -- how can I say this in a future-proof way that both appeals to normies and tech folk like myself. I feel like I'll be doing better the more I post to places like that, and maybe less here?

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jrm4 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

No, but as I've said below, this isn't about what will actually strongly happen, but what I think people think. I could be wrong here.

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phyzome 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

There was a bit of a scandal at my employer some years back and IIRC it was kicked off by someone posting/boosting some really questionable stuff on LinkedIn.

Amusingly, this was someone high up in HR.

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adi_pradhan 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

LOL you've nailed LinkedinSpeak here

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jrm4 6 hours ago | parent [-]

Let me try again, then

If you fuck up badly on here, no one cares at all

If you fuck up badly on Twitter, maybe someone cares

If you fuck up badly on Facebook, people you know find out, maybe no one else.

If you fuck up badly on LinkedIn, you have to find a new job and you've stained yourself in this market.

Thus, anyone posting to LinkedIn is subconsciously saying -- I'm aware that this might STRONGLY hinder my ability to eat but I'm posting it anyway because I think it is that important for some reason. (now that REASON may be fluffy, but still.)

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ramon156 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Oh, you were not joking.

No, people do not care. You're not a celeb. This is textbook spotlight effect.

Your life becomes a lot more enjoyable if you don't take yourself so serious, try it sometime

	▲	jrm4 6 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I generally agree with what you're saying here -- I don't mean that "other people ACTUALLY care." I suppose -- I'm trying to explain why I believe the choice, and thus the material itself, to post LinkedIn might be special in a way that the rest might not? Like I'm guessing a lot of people do fall into the "spotlight effect" and that affects what is posted.
	▲	booleandilemma 4 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I disagree completely. If you post something racist on LinkedIn you're probably going to lose your job. Try it, if you don't believe me. If you post something racist here you're going to get downvoted.

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mancerayder 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

This can be read as why to avoid LinkedIn. Job searching is already hard, if you manage to land an interview you still have to spend time, as an old dude, studying Leetcode like you're a kid with five years experience instead of twenty. Then it's competitive. Etc.

So to this you wish to add the increased risk of negative exposure by saying a bad thing? Or that someone, someones, or people five years from today consider a bad thing?

I love writing and posting and engaging (you can tell from my history here alone), but I'm not crazy enough to risk spilling my feelings on a site full of people in suits and ties, with Leader next to their names.

	▲	jrm4 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I agree with you generally; what I am saying here right now is that how people behave on LinkedIn creates an interesting filter for content in this way in the present, without saying necessarily SHOULD people behave this way.