Final Judgement Call: Linkedin
Linkedin operates within the same psychological system that powers the rest of the platforms. Yet, it masquerades itself as the professional of the bunch.
The psychological motivational system of reference is what has historically kept our gene expression alive and helped us reproduce. Social media platforms operate within the construct of our most basic psychological needs and motivations. These motivations are acceptance, respect, and liking, from peer groups and in some cases - attraction to our desired mating partner(s).
Social media platforms, LinkedIn included, strive to fill these motivations. Except, it’s artificial and the attention the individual garners on their content blurs the lines of true acceptance and respect from ones peers. It's a fuel like motivation with increasingly diminishing returns - a sort of race to the bottom to garner the most attention possible. A good example of this is the type of content that is becoming much more celebrated on LinkedIn - victim like postings of how difficult your life was and how many adversities you had to overcome to get to where you are. I could go on and on with other examples, but you get the point. It’s more of an observation of the groups behavior as a whole and the amount of new self abasement like postings or displays to the public via the platform, that I derive this argument from. If we were truly fulfilling these baseline motivations / needs, why would we see increasingly more self degrading like behavior / postings?
Each platform is different but they all tether on similar human motivations / needs. In respect to the argument put forth, how do we differentiate between the platforms such as WSO, LinkedIn, Facebook, instagram (etc.)?
I believe we can categorize the platforms in a sort of rank file categorization by the type of content / behavior that the platform motivates from its user and thus the resulting content that is celebrated by others (on that platform). The system of ranking should reflect which behavior or content is most primal to our psychological makeup as humans and which platform encourages the ascension above the baseline human needs to a more “self actualization” or “enlightenment” state of being.
For example, Instagram’s platform mainly operates within our needs of attraction for reproduction based solely on pictures of ourselves and how much attention or likes those pictures gain once posted.
Facebook is a step above that with a mixture of intellectual creativity between words, pictures, and memes. Although, as you will see, it still operates within the confides of acceptance and respect from our peers - a very baseline level motivation that all social media platforms have in common, including WSO. The difference is to which sub motivation the platform chooses to exploit, how it chooses to exploit it, and how far up towards self actualization one can climb by engaging with the platform and posting content. In the previous example instagram operates within a primal reproductive / attraction sub category of acceptance by others. Facebook operates in a more “friend” like way, a grouping or tribe of belonging.
LinkedIn and the users of the platform, celebrate the “struggle” of professional development or the righteous virtues of doing the right thing in your line of work for others.
WSO operates more of an information based resource platform but I argue that it is higher on the ranking system to which human need it fulfills. It has the propensity to allow us to stretch to the more self fulfilling mode of being, self actualization, by being able to post much more intellectual based content void of provocative pictures or the alike. However, it garners attention in the form of bananas, just as the rest of them do in different form. Usually we see this comparison in terms of “likes” or emoji reactions, on the other platforms.
Human motivations haven’t changed. What’s changed is the way we choose to fulfill them and to the degree we fulfill them or attempt to. Scrolling and posting on social media all day is an attempt to fulfill much of those baseline motivations. The question becomes whether these attempts at fulfilling these subconscious baseline human motivational needs are actually being fulfilled by the activity of engaging with the various platforms or not. Is it possible the attempt to fulfill these baseline motivations /needs through social media actually keeps us bound in an endless pursuit towards a need that never seems to be fulfilled? If that’s so, it would mean that the more we engage in these platforms the less likely we are to ascend towards self actualization thus bounding ourselves in an endless shallow circular pursuit of unmet need.
Just something to think about. This is my attempt at self actualization, through reason and critical thought.
Happy Monday -
+ 1 SB.
It's all trash.
Bingo. +1 SB back to you. It really is, and what’s most astonishing about this new mode of fulfilling these needs is that it essentially happened overnight in a sensational like way. Very strange
Overnight is a great way to describe how fast it can change your mindset and begin to make its way into your ego and perception of self. I cannot imagine how detrimental the LT effects on mental health will be.
I’d agree, we discussed this in a philosophy course I took last semester, lol. I honestly think you can even simplify the “linkedin situation” down even further. All forms of social media innately prey on the human desire to be liked and accepted by their “peers”; this has evolved from hunter-gatherer humans wanting to be accepted into a group for safety to college sophomores ranking their IBD offers on WSO for peer validation. I like your thinking on the rankings of the different sites, but the way I’d honestly think of it is like this: all of these sites are, at their most basic structure, sources of validation. Instagram/facebook has people showing off their looks, clothes, cars, houses, even if indirectly I think everyone notices. LinkedIn is the worst offender bc it’s core “feature” is money/job titles. I don’t know if you can generalize it as an embodiment of the human pursuit to fulfill our motivation, but I do think LinkedIn does a better job (unfortunately) at illustrating this Sisyphus-esque situation a lot of modern humans fall into. Especially with so much modern emphasis on peer validation. I’d be happy to talk more about it lol- benefits of being a philosophy double major.
Almost think of it like this (in a really logical way): LinkedIn takes the “monetary” aspect of say, Instagram, where it’s always “implied” or hidden (like oh this person is posting with their XXX car, or this person is on vacation for the 3rd time this month, or this girl is standing in front of this massive house in Miami). From this, you INFER things about their/their family’s wealth/job/success. LinkedIn totally eliminates the middleman and allows- no, encourages, people to flex their success and money and success stories, which inherently perpetuates the above validation problem.
The reality behind both is an immense degree of smoke and mirrors. From filters and photoshop on Instagram to the amount of fake it ‘til you make it positivity on LinkedIn. I view LinkedIn as a glorified Rolodex, nothing more and avoid the feed other than for the handful of people who consistently post stuff worth reading. I hate the hustle culture on there and as a recession is likely incoming will be interested to see what the impact on LinkedIn is.
Taken as a whole influencer culture is toxic. The sooner it dies it’s slow death the better.
I think LinkedIn does a good job connecting you to head hunters and job postings.
There is no social media platform that is holistically good. There are features of some that are good -- LinkedIn is meant to network & find jobs which at its core is good. Without a news feed, the platform would be ideal (though of course would not have as high engagement so this will never happen)
FB is good to reconnect with friends / plan events. Again, the news feed / reels / etc is trash for your brain
Yeah I recently am back on instagram. Post stuff to my story but that’s it. It’s been nice reconnecting with people I hadn’t talked to in a long time, but that’s all I did. I said hey, we talked for a bit, then I closed the app.
LinkedIn has helped me get all 3 of my jobs I’ve had, but that’s just from the job posting section. I never post and have few connections
It really is. If there was a “junk food for your brain” campaign, I’d put social media at the top of that list
I do not use social media for anything that is social. I do use these platforms for business with mixed results. LinkedIn is the worst for business for my purposes. For ten years, I generated nothing from LinkedIn until this year. I picked up one client. Overall, most leads are bad. I do better with Facebook and Reddit because you are part of a community and you develop trust that way.
What exactly is your occupation?
I try not to disclose that type of info. It is in my best interests to be private.
financeabc Nice. Yeah I’m a big fan of this platform and Reddit. There’s a sense of community and there’s much more opportunity / content that engages the brain critically.
I’m not sure how old you all are, but, if you’re currently 18-25 social media is very important. Whether you like it or not, social media handles are exchanged a ton when meeting people and your IG is a glimpse of who you are as a person. If you have little to no followers and/or don’t post fun or interesting stuff, people will think less of you.
I sincerely can’t tell if people don’t realize this or refuse to accept it, it’s the truth though. As for LinkedIn, I just have it on the back burner but have all my visibility turned off. 90% of the stuff I see on my feed aren’t related to work; just the other day someone posted about their family member with some illness…really?
I can’t disagree - I used instagram and Snapchat a ridiculous amount in college. Instagram I only had 7 posts, but it was all about making this image of me. “Oh, look at Arroz con Pollo traveling the world. 7 countries in 3 months he’s so cool”.
Having instagram link to tinder, bumble, hinge was key as well. I was always asked how I had so many followers, especially because I barely followed anyone.
Social media definitely does not matter once you’ve established yourself as a working professional (depending on how you conduct your social life). I have an Instagram, but I don’t let people tag me in stories or photos. I limit who can view my story to people I follow.
I’m amazed at what people post about themselves. Social media has inflated everyone’s ego to think they are the star of not just their own movie, but everyone else’s as well. My story consists of memes and inside jokes the people close to me will get.
The vanity of young adults is insane, especially in college. I got laid several times simply due to the apartment complex I lived in - it was brand new and “the nicest”, so girls would be like “oh yeah can we hang at the pool” and shit like that. I will reiterate tho that once you graduate college and join the real world, you don’t need social media. When I went zero dark thirty mode after graduation and was still whoring around, girls just told me I acted a lot older than my age. Absolutely not, but I just didn’t use Snapchat or instagram. I still played video games and did the same shit I did in college, I just didn’t broadcast it to everyone
Social media is actually far more important the further out you get from college. You don't need Instagram/Snapchat and dating apps in college to get laid when there's parties on every corner and meeting people is literally hilariously easy. It's more so once you're out of college, it's a free for all and you have to make a serious effort to go out and meet people. If you have nothing on your social media and no serious presence, then people will look down on you and not want to be associated with you. College is really the exact 180, it's much easier to have fun and find cliques even if you're a total weirdo.
So, for those reasons, I really don't blame people for showing off on social media tbh. It's not pressure, it's not low self-esteem, it's literally just being human.
"The vanity of young adults is insane, especially in college. I got laid several times simply due to the apartment complex I lived in - it was brand new and "the nicest", so girls would be like "oh yeah can we hang at the pool" and shit like that. I will reiterate tho that once you graduate college and join the real world, you don't need social media."
So then I have to ask, did you feel that only college girls were pretty vain about that stuff (fancy apartment complex)? Or would that stuff also help outside of college when you join the "real world"? In my experience college girls are obviously way more down to hookup and if they consider you a high value guy, even easier, but I guess there's much more variance amongst older women?
Bro did you just post your essay from psych class?
Hahaha yo, that was good. Nah man, I’m just a thinker
Yeah tbh I only pushed for 500+ connections so that I can finally get a girlfriend
Linkedin is probably the #1 source for quick information in the commodities market. It is by far the leader of giving information about the EU crisis and how it has evolved. Without linkedin, many data vendors would not be known.
Maybe your network is full of people showing off things. But plenty of people out there just trying to network and provide information.
The fact that linkedin makes people give their title/role is the reason it works. Someone who works for a Bulgaria pipeline company is going to be trusted on info about Bulgaria. Someone who works in Africa will know really how inflation is there and so on.
Good insight and great addition. Bias in perspective I was trying to rule out without hard macro data on LinkedIn postings across the platform but I acknowledge, could very well be the case. Interesting you utilize LinkedIn for market info. It makes sense I guess if you're looking for real time information connecting with others across the globe in those positions to aid in your work. Makes sense, very interesting
LinkedIn has officially morphed into a circle jerk of virtue signaling “woke activists” shitposts. It’s about as professional as a shit stained 7/11 restroom
I’ve found LinkedIn to be useful for job alerts, connecting with colleagues / students connecting with me, and seeing my network’s job changes. I avoid the feed as it’s mostly now ridiculous reposts about job applicants losing a finger on their way to an interview and getting the job (mostly sensational HR/recruiter posts), X company giving an amazing raises to everyone, or people posting about the loss of a loved one (I sympathize but I’m not sure why this platform is used for that).
I like Reddit for the discussion of specific topics I’m interested in but the All/Popular posts I’ve noticed are more and more becoming about people complaining about work and their lives being unfair - I do think there’s some merit to this, however, as it seems like the general American populace is in decline in terms of quality of life.
I still use instagram for friends’ photos/stories and insta models.
I haven’t jumped on TikTok - my gf spends hours on it but I don’t quite want to give my device to China and watch 30 videos of the same song and dance all day.
Do you expect me to read all of that
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