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With 450 million users, you've probably heard of LinkedIn by now.
LinkedIn defines itself as a professional network built to showcase your professional identity, discover professional opportunities, and receive the news which helps you be your best. (Professional is the operative word!) I actually Googled that definition because the growing trend of unprofessional behavior had me start questioning if LinkedIn was promoting itself as Tinder. (The answer is: NO.)
So this lends me to ask three questions:
WHY - Why are people posting this stuff?
In a nutshell, attention. People want attention - and they will do just about anything to get it. Risque photos and sexually suggestive comments are littering our professional networking site and it needs to stop or we are going to see the fall of a platform we need to promote our professional initiatives.
I was scrolling through my LinkedIn news feed when I saw a post by a news anchor (female) posting a selfie in a red dress, high heels, and some motivational rant about gratitude. She had a similar (shorter) version on Twitter, where it could be seen as "appropriate" for the audience of Twitter, but LinkedIn? What does this have to do with being a news anchor? Nothing - it was some selfie blasted across multiple platforms without a though. And the comments? Let's talk about this for a quick moment:
...yeah, this was on LinkedIn. Not Twitter, Facebook, or Tinder, but a professional networking site for all the world to see how you are in business.
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HOW - How do I know who is interacting with this stuff?
Simple - the news feed tattles on the offenders. If someone likes a photo (like the example I shared) the news feed will say, "So and so liked this photo" or "So and so commented on this story". It's really that simple.
To be honest, I'm still shocked when I see people I admire and respect in business interact with material such as this, but it dawned on me they likely have no clue that people know they are. So - if you're reading this and you're interacting with this stuff, you might want to knock it off because...
WHAT - What should I do to help clean up LinkedIn?
If I see people interacting with this type of irrelevant content on LinkedIn, I disconnect with the individual. I want to keep my LinkedIn truly a professional resource.
A friend of mine, Augie Ray, recently wrote an article, "Your LinkedIn Likes May Be Hurting Your Career" and it is worth the 4-minute read. Trust me - WORTH IT! Take into consideration each of the points he makes because people could be disconnecting from others over what may appear superficial as a "like" in passing, when the content may suffer from the 3 P's::
I sign off each post with being bigger, better, and more BIONIC because I want you to put your best foot (post, comment, like, tweet, message, etc.) forward and really outshine in a sea of millions.
Don't squeak by with a simple absent-minded "Like" - think before you post, publish, push content on any platform. Why?