Post #3628293

2026-06-19 06:34 UTC

I really don’t want to “thought leader” anything to promote our work/studio for potential clients who are outside our industry bubble because the people who do real work don’t have that much time for LinkedIn. But they do read it occasionally and are sent some link worth their attention. The people doing real work are more like dark matter: they log in and read every once in a while but even they can’t resist the catnip of fear-based thought leadership even when their business gut and knowledge tells them otherwise. This stuff preys on their fear and/or impostor syndrome: am I doing enough? Will I get fired/will my business suffer if I don’t stay up to date? So we end up with the odd “I heard bot traffic overtook human traffic, do I really need to optimize my company for ChatGPT” type question And I really don’t want to go there but sometimes I think maybe I should get over the resistance and we should, because the amount of garbage out there is starting to require a lot of energy to refute. I almost want to post a thing and just point to the sign whenever this comes up. If at least one person writes in and says “thank you I thought I was losing my mind” then it might be worthwhile. What do people here think?

Replies (4)

@n_dimension@infosec.exchange 2026-06-19 06:41

@diemkay@hachyderm.io I stopped using #linkedin a long time ago. Long before it became Facebook for suits. Probably why bot-recruiters think I'm a prime candidate for FedEx van drjving 😬

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@rhazn@mas.to 2026-06-19 07:51

@diemkay@hachyderm.io For what it is worth, you have free will and can just post how you would love to read. I don't think the feed I am writing there is the worst, it is basically my "real" social media cleaned up a tiny bit for professional use. And it gives me a presence that is genuinely useful for some people. I also follow only other people that post in the same way (they exist, rarely, but they do). There is no real "sales" channel for freelance using that approach though, however sometimes people give you good feedback for your work or they might remember you later as a non-idiot and like to work with you ;). But, in general I agree with the sentiment, the default LinkedIn experience is wild.

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@tbh@stranger.social 2026-06-19 07:51

@diemkay@hachyderm.io You know this already. LinkedIn is a tempest of marketing and self-promotion posts. It is impossible to find real discussion on any topic from anyone who isn't pushing an agenda for their company or themselves. Post if you must, but don't expect the conversation to shift. For an instant, you will grab the attention of those that respect or agree with you. Then you'll be back to reading and wondering all over again. There are places for real info but #LinkedIn isn't one of them.

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@happyborg@fosstodon.org 2026-06-19 08:49

@diemkay@hachyderm.io I stopped using it when the last business I began ended, and would now be extremely unlikely to consider using it for the obvious reasons, plus privacy, ownership and so on. The only reason I may log in again would be to connect with someone I know from my past and can't reach otherwise, which is also very unlikely now. So I wonder, who does still visit/frequent it, and do they really benefit? Do they understand the downsides and alternatives? Maybe that's something to share there?

Open ##3628298