LinkedIn is wild

I'm not big on social media, I've (luckily) never gotten into TikTok, Twitter, and RIP to FB. I try to not have the IG app installed as I scroll too much, I have a love/hate relationship with the algorithm, and I just think the 'real' world is a much nicer place to be.

In walks LinkedIn.

I've had it for about 5 years, yet didn't do much on it until the end of last year when I decided it was time to knuckle down and give my career path a boost. Luckily I have incredibly supportive and talented friends who, along with chat GPT, spent hours guiding me through the basics of pulling together a profile that should help me get my foot in the door of my future employer.

(As I'm writing this... I feel like I'm writing one of the thousands of posts that seem to be there commenting on the current situation) Buzzwords, em-dashes, everything is a lesson, be authentic, add in metrics, be human, what was your impact, how can you articulate your value. I see a post from someone that I think is a breath of fresh air, inspirational and talks to me, so I follow... a few days later, their never-ending inspo posts just get boring. In trying to be fresh, everyone is stale.

Unfortunately, I am currently job hunting so this is a form of social media that I can't avoid and I very much need to be in the game. I am however, being very cautious about how I partake, as I think the 'be real' thing is false, or at least idealistic. 'Be real' within the boundaries of the persona you want to portray. 'Be real' providing you have enough content or engagement with you profile to give context and offer balance. Maybe that's what I'm struggling with. As I'm such a newbie, every post or article holds such weight that i'm conscious of the impact.

What comes first, the brand or the audience/connections?

What's the solution here? Get over myself and 'be real' anyway? Intentionally put out content to give a more well rounded image of who I am? Put out content for the sake of putting out content? That just doesn't sit right with me, yet I'm unsure if there's greater risk in doing nothing compared to something.

Again... LinkedIn is wild!

The added problem I have is that I'm not so sure I do have a brand. What I am and what I have to offer isn't so set in stone. I'm incredibly adaptible, and flexible, and resourceful. I learn quickly and am very comfortable with change. I am black and white, I can be ying and yang. Since first working on my LinkedIn profile and CV, I've come to realise that that really is my superpower, it's not where I'm lacking. But how can I build a brand around that? Without filling everyone's newsfeed with self-indulgent posts explaining myself, because that also isn't my style. If I'm not sharing my day to day life with friends and family on other social media platforms, then doing it on what is meant to be a professional platform makes even less sense to me.

I thought (and still kinda do think) that LinkedIn is a professional platform where the content shared should be relevant and in context, however it seems those boundaries don't exist, and your personal brand is in fact what matters, whether we want it to or not. The personal brand that you design first and then create content on after...

Aha, I know! I'll create a whole site, all about me! A place where I can freely present myself, all the little pieces of my puzzle without fear of how the final picture will be perceived because there is no standard or expectation.

This is my 'be real' because it is the purest form of me, and only me, all of me.

So thanks LinkedIn! You may be making this job searching period of my life more complicated than I would like, but you have driven me to create this site as a solution to a problem.

The pressure to have a personal brand has made me realise that I don't want to engage with the concept at all, I don't want to limit myself or pigeon hole myself because everyone else is. Maybe I do need to specifically on LinkedIn, and I can play along as needed, but how liberating it has been to realise that I can create my own space and my own rules. I'm not trying to engage with anyone, or be liked, or be unique, or be successful, or be valued.

I only need to care about being me.

This is where the 'I am not a perfectionist' has come from. It's a cringe answer to an interview question, and it's what everyone is trying to be on LinkedIn. Everyone is trying to play the LinkedIn game perfectly, in some way or another, on all social media platforms actually. I've yet to meet anyone that calls themselves a perfectionist, that is actually a perfectionist.

Fingers crossed all this will change soon, in one way or another.

To rebel against the pressure I currently feel on LinkedIn about creating my personal brand, the photo for this post is a photo I would never have shared in fear of how it would impact my 'personal brand'.