The future of LinkedIn... from the cheap seats

Trading in my cubicle for days on the road
was one of the happiest days of my life

I was listening to Marketplace on my local Public Radio station a couple of days ago and they ran an interesting segment between host Kai Ryssdal and New York Times reporter Lora Kelley on how LinkedIn users are sharing more and more personal stories. They pointed out that a platform originally designed to make business connections and help find jobs was now seeing an increasing number of users "open up their hearts and personal lives to their feeds." I've noticed that, and am also the first to admit that I share posts that traditionally wouldn't have fit the old LinkedIn mold. My posts tend to focus primarily on travel rather than what Marketplace referred to (somewhat condescendingly) as 'crying selfies' but truth be told I represent a hugely untapped portion of LinkedIn users that represents a golden opportunity should LinkedIn get the hint. 

I retired in 2016. I could have just walked away from LinkedIn at that point as I wasn't looking for a new job and already had a sizable network of business-related contacts. And I'm sure that's precisely what many retirees do. I didn't, because just because I had suddenly moved from workaholic to retireaholic didn't mean I no longer had anything to contribute and share with those I knew from my business life. LinkedIn, if you're listening, there's a huge untapped pool of knowledge, wisdom, insights, and experience that you're ignoring. If you could find a way to bring retirees back into the LinkedIn fold it would enhance the entire LinkedIn community. A retiree's thoughts and opinions are every bit as valid and bring with them the context of years of actual experience that others could well benefit from. Hmmm... Retireaholic... might just put that as my current position the next time LinkedIn prompts me...

I'm not suggesting that LinkedIn should turn into a professional Facebook look-a-like. Candidly I gave up on Facebook years ago even though I had been an early adopter in the early 2000's after recognizing it was likely to supplant the then-more-popular Myspace. It was probably shortly after joining Facebook that I also joined LinkedIn. Working in Human Resources it was a strategic tool for reaching out to potential candidates to introduce the company I worked for and what it had to offer. Most candidates knew next to nothing about the organization I represented, and even though most would never actually work for us, LinkedIn allowed us to get the word out about this great company. 

Let's face it - looking for a job is, for most of us, about as much fun as having a tooth pulled. Even for someone reliant on LinkedIn to do my job, I clearly recognized that LinkedIn straddled the borderline of - dare I say it - being boring. If you're not actively seeking employment, or conversely seeking candidates to fill a job, much of what was (and still is) posted could be fairly high on the Yawn meter. So I suggest that people posting a broader array of information is not a bad thing. Do the folks at LinkedIn need to continue to do content moderation? Absolutely. Yet to remain primarily a resume database ignores the platform's full potential. 

Me? I'll continue to post away though I promise to avoid the 'crying selfie'. If you like travel-related content tag along. If not, hey - that's fine too. In the words of author Karen White: "You ain't dead yet, so you ain't done." To all my fellow retirees, those are words to live by. Now if only LinkedIn is listening...