Entrepreneur, Professional Learner, & Proud Failure. Writes about sales, marketing, and entrepreneurship from the eyes of a learning and development nerd. Lead teams, manage people, scale a business, and learn better through the biweekly irreverent newsletter, the TL;DR.
The TL;DR, LinkedIn Tastes Like Vomit But We Can't Stop Eating It
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A bi-weekly roundup of rage against the LinkedIn machine March 22 - April 4 A Neverending Mostly Disappointing Buffet431 days ago, I installed an app blocker on my phone called ScreenZen. It's a free app that is designed to add friction between the meatball that is my brain and the vibrating supercomputer designed by companies with more money than God: I installed this app because- in a rare moment of clarity- I realized that Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit was not really enriching my life, informing me of relevant information, or sparking joy. More importantly, I found myself doomscrolling for an embarrassing amount of time, mindlessly seeking a hit of dopamine in short form content. Having a limited number of times to access an app for only 7 minutes gently changed my behavior. It certainly reduced my doomscrolling. While it disconnected me somewhat from the pop culture memes of the day and I did see less of what was going on in the lives of my friends, overall I feel as though my life got better. One app I didn't block was LinkedIn. And now I know why. I have been groomed. LinkedIn is a dumpster fire and, deep down, we all know it.LinkedIn is the same as Facebook and Instagram and TikTok and Reddit and [insert your favorite social media app]: websites that are motivated to monetize your attention for the company's benefit. I'm not the first to say this. Ezra Klein and Jonathan Haidt recently explored how Zoomers have been irrevocably neurologically wounded by this technology. I'm a complicit victim too, with my own thirsty LinkedIn posts. I'm also fully aware that there is an exchange happening. Through LinkedIn, you can generate leads for your business, establish yourself as a thought leader, make genuine new connections, find a job, and have your community celebrate wins with you. It does what it says on the tin. But as I was reflecting earlier this week, I kept wondering, "Why did I NOT add LinkedIn to my ScreenZen blocked apps over a year ago?" I think it's because I don't want to fail as a professional. For me, it's Fear Motivation. Do you believe, deep down, that if you aren't present and engaged on LinkedIn, it's a ding against your chances for professional success? Tell me if you've ever thought this: I should really be growing my network. I don't post on LinkedIn enough. Employers/prospects want to know that you're a thought leader. If I/my business doesn't have a social media presence, it'll hurt my brand. That last one is a zinger for marketing agencies. Like, eat your own dog food, amirite? Whether or not you actually opt into the treadmill of social content creation, there's a gravity well that's been invisibly pulling at me and many of you...for decades. Just look at the gamification!!!! If you get a lot of blue thumbs up on a post, you've scored reputation points! You can see the number of impressions on your posts! Relationships are quantified! There's a whole subreddit mocking this charade! We. Have. Been. Groomed. That being said, I learned in philosophy class a long time ago to be cautious about confusing an "Is" with an "Ought". Just because something is true doesn't mean that it should or shouldn't be true: it just is. The fact that we have been groomed to want to engage on LinkedIn is just facts. Whether or not this is good or bad is our choice. It's a fucking choice. That little Forever Empty that's always whispering in the back of your brain, "Hey, you should turn this into a LinkedIn post," is just the event horizon of LinkedIn's gravity well. It's so easy to forget that you can choose to opt in or opt out. Since LinkedIn was started in 2003, it has followed the social media playbook of enticing us into its ecosystem...and its rules...and its interests...of advertisers... So what do you do, if you want to opt-out yourself and your business from this buffet of mediocre content? There are excellent alternatives: Grow your network beyond LinkedIn
Generate leads beyond LinkedIn
Build authority and credibility beyond LinkedIn
Generate sales beyond LinkedIn
Listen, I know- that's a lot of work. Events. Content. Outreach. Or you can continue eating garbage like this: A TL;DR from the CROI hope you and your family are well: my company has been successfully matching entrepreneurs with successful franchise and business opportunities and if you would like to be your own boss and explore business opportunities, at no cost or obligation, I’d be happy to discuss. -Roman Noodles, Chief Ruff Officer I've been on a kick of meeting up 1-1 with people in my neighborhood as my small act of rebellion from the black hole that is my phone. It started with Mark Hutchins when we took monthly COVID-era walks around Franklin Park. Today's newsletter topic came out of one of those walks this past week! It continued with Ivy Blossom when I cautiously asked- with butterflies in my belly!- to go on a coworking date with me. It was so great that we have continued spending occasional mornings at Evergreen. After one of my thirsty LinkedIn posts, I met up with Melanie at Ula Cafe. From there, it sparked even more coffee dates. This is so much more rewarding (and takes less cumulative time) than creating a content calendar of what I plan to post on LinkedIn. People always complain that living in Boston is too expensive, but at the same time, I have access to hundreds of relevant, interesting, and charming professionals in walking distance. Your mileage may vary if you live in a one-stoplight town, but you might be shocked at how many cool people are nearby and willing to get a breakfast sandwich and share hyper-specific, relevant, personalized content (they call it "a conversation"). Get the fuck out of the feeds and support a local business, Dan from Learn to Scale Opt-out from the newsletter | Unsubscribe from all emails | Update your Preferences | | www.learntoscale.us, Boston, MA 02119 PS. Need help with your IRL conversation skills? Do you have no idea how to talk to people? |
Dan Newman
Entrepreneur, Professional Learner, & Proud Failure. Writes about sales, marketing, and entrepreneurship from the eyes of a learning and development nerd. Lead teams, manage people, scale a business, and learn better through the biweekly irreverent newsletter, the TL;DR.
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