I have had a very odd relationship with Linkedin, the first time I signed up I was at the end of my University degree and looking for a job. I found a job via Twitter and deleted my profile a few months after that.
Fast forward 6 years and I’m back on it. I guess I wanted a way to connect with people similar to me and grow my own profile as a filmmaker. Now I feel like I need to delete it again.
Linkedin is an amazing place to network, to keep track of the shifting careers of everyone you’ve worked with and to stay informed on industry news. It’s also just really...really odd.
My feed right now:
1. Can someone recommend a ______ company“. (21 Comments all pitching) 2. Someones Personal life update:
”...Feeling content and blessed” (8 hashtags)
3. Click Bait title about your business dying. (They can help your business survive!)
And repeat. LinkedIn is great in many ways but it’s the Facebook feed of 2001 and it’s pretty tiring.
Despite this -
How do you get the best from Linkedin?
Step 1: Ignore most of the content on your feed. 90% of those posts are people just trying to look and sound like the experts they’re paid to be which is fine but
Step 2: Follow hashtags that mean something to you. I have #videoproduction and #stockport which give me industry updates and local news.
Step 3: Visit the site maybe twice a week. I got into a bad habit of checking my feed everyday and it can be pretty draining.
Step 4: Connect with up and coming talent, I’ve had a few discussions with recent graduates and it’s honestly refreshing.
Step 5: Look last the CV, the job titles and the amount of connections... remember LinkedIn is just another social media platform and should be enjoyable, not a chore.
Writing this post has made me decide to keep my Linkedin profile (although I’ll be deleting the app.) so I can still experience some of the positives that it has to offer and not get too caught up in the rest.
No real end to this post, so just stay happy and healthy and take note of what really matters.... that’s not Linkedin if you were wondering. Photo by Adam Solomon via Unsplash