Not having to use LinkedIn is a privilege

Find Your Superpower newsletter 010

Read time: 3 minutes

Topics covered: LinkedIn, retrenchment, job search, business development, professional branding

I was at a networking event at a glitzy bar on the top floor of a skyscraper.

We had just opened a bottle of top-grade champagne, courtesy of one of the guests, and we had done a round of toasts.

Everyone was in a celebratory mood.

I had just introduced myself as a founder CEO of a strategic communications firm that helps individuals, startups, academic institutions and corporates with their professional branding on social media, and inevitably, my conversation shifted to LinkedIn.

It was then when I heard those words I can't forget, from the CEO of a listed company:

"LinkedIn is so corny, why would anyone want to use it? I don't spend any time on it at all."

They say, you pick your battles...

It was at this very moment where I recalled the sage advice of some guru about picking your battles wisely. What does it mean to pick your battles?

According to Wikitonary, it means: "To only involve oneself in disputes that one is likely to win. To only take a stand for a cause that is truly important to one."

At this moment, I thought to myself, do I ruin a perfectly good glass of champagne and upset a CEO of a listed company? YES.

I really couldn't help but reply:

"The fact that you said this shows your privilege. Many people are losing their jobs right now. What do you think they are doing today? Yup, posting on LinkedIn."

To rain on LinkedIn is truly, truly a privilege. It suggests the following:

• We sit at the very top of the corporate food chain
• We have a secure job and won't be fired or retrenched in the next 1-2 years
• Our current job doesn't require any self-promotion of our skills and talent to get a bonus, raise or promotion
• Our bosses can see our value proposition and contributions clearly even while working remotely or hybrid
• We are getting widespread industry recognition and receiving industry awards from our peers without any "corny" intervention on our part
• Our current client portfolio is secure, with a strong business pipeline that grows annually by word-of-mouth alone

Hustling on LinkedIn is a job for many

Right now, various groups of people are hustling on LinkedIn, in some cases, desperately:

• Fresh graduates looking for their first job in a global recessionary climate
• More than 100,000 tech employees in the US who have lost their job in 2023 alone, many of whom are on a work visa and have 30 days to find their next job before being asked to leave the country
• Human resources and recruitment teams searching for talent
• Business development teams who have to DM cold leads daily
• Consultants, freelancers and solopreneurs looking for new clients and income
• Venture capital or PE folks looking for investments and startups
• New moms trying to re-enter the workforce after a childcare break

If you don't find yourself in any of the above categories, congratulations, LinkedIn is optional for you. And you certainly have the option of deleting the app from your mobile phone and spending your time on better pursuits.

But for the rest of us, LinkedIn is a source of income.

So let's stay focused on the prize—our next job, our next promotion, our next client, our next hire, our next industry award.

That's why I use LinkedIn. How about you?

PS: Suffice to say, I did not make a new collaborator or friend that evening.

See you next week!

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