LinkedIn is a social media platform designed specifically for professionals to network and make career connections. With over 800 million members, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking site. When signing up for LinkedIn, users are prompted to provide details about their work history, education, skills, and accomplishments to create a professional profile. The culture of LinkedIn is therefore geared towards career-related content and discussions. However, there is an ongoing debate about whether LinkedIn is becoming less professional and more social. Some argue that increased sharing of personal content is diluting the professional brand of LinkedIn, while others believe that reasonable levels of personal content make professionals more relatable. This article will examine both sides of the debate and analyze whether LinkedIn is supposed to be an exclusively professional platform or if there is room for some personal content as well.
The purpose and original intent of LinkedIn
LinkedIn was founded in 2002 with the vision of creating a professional networking platform to connect the world’s professionals. The goal was to provide a space for career-minded individuals to build networks, search for jobs, find potential clients, share content, and gain recognition for their professional accomplishments.
When LinkedIn first launched, it was focused solely on professional content and profiles. Users were encouraged to share professional updates, resumes, recommendations, and work samples. Early guidelines advised members to “always present yourself in a professional manner.” The culture and etiquette of early LinkedIn emphasized career over personal.
Over time, LinkedIn evolved by adding features like job postings, company pages, and tools for recruiters. But the core mission remained centered on creating economic opportunity for professionals. LinkedIn’s own branding and messaging has consistently focused on the value they provide in professional networking, hiring solutions, and career development.
This history and original intent suggest that LinkedIn was designed first and foremost as a professional platform, not a personal one. The culture of sharing family photos, personal opinions, and non-work related content was more associated with platforms like Facebook. While other social networks expanded boundaries, LinkedIn retained a tightly professional focus.
Growth of LinkedIn and the rise of personal content
In its first few years, LinkedIn experienced rapid growth, reaching over 100 million members by 2011. With this growth came increased diversity in how members were using the platform. While many utilized LinkedIn strictly for professional networking and career advancement, others began sharing more personal content and making social connections outside of their professional circles.
Several factors contributed to the rise in personal content on LinkedIn:
– **More users from a wider range of backgrounds**: As membership grew, personal content became more commonplace from those who viewed LinkedIn as both a professional and social network.
– **Adoption by millennials**: Younger users were accustomed to sharing personal and professional lives holistically on social media. Millennials brought this integrated sharing culture to LinkedIn.
– **Feature enhancements**: LinkedIn added capabilities like long-form publishing, posts, reactions, mentions, and multimedia uploads that lent themselves well to personal sharing.
– **Competition from other networks**: LinkedIn may have felt pressure to allow more personal content to prevent losing users to other “social” networks.
By the mid and late 2010s, it was no longer uncommon to see life updates, family photos, opinions on non-work topics, inspirational quotes, and other personal content on LinkedIn profiles and feeds. A more social culture took hold, though primarily shared by a subset of users.
Debate: Is personal content diluting LinkedIn’s professional brand?
The rise of personal sharing on LinkedIn has sparked debate around whether it dilutes LinkedIn’s differentiation as a professional networking platform. Those who argue personal content is a negative trend point to the following concerns:
– **Loss of professional focus**: Personal sharing shifts attention away from career-minded networking and business objectives. Some professionals are seeking career opportunities, not life updates.
– **Controversial or inappropriate content**: Personal opinions, political takes, or overly casual content posted publicly could be reputation risks. Content that is harmless personally may be unprofessional in a career context.
– **Effect on hiring decisions**: Prospective employers or clients who come across too much personal content may see it as unprofessional and get a negative impression.
– **Crowding the feed**: An influx of personal updates makes it harder to find substantive professional content. The signal-to-noise ratio trends lower.
– **No alternative for professional focus**: Unlike Facebook, there are no alternative major professional networks if LinkedIn becomes too social.
Many who share this view believe LinkedIn should take steps to re-emphasize professional content and move personal sharing back to other social networks. They argue LinkedIn was intended, designed, and branded specifically as a career-oriented platform and risks losing that identity.
Counterargument – Reasonable personal content makes professionals relatable
Others argue that reasonable levels of personal sharing are appropriate on LinkedIn and actually benefit users. They offer several counterpoints:
– **Holistic identity**: Most professionals don’t segment personal and professional lives completely. Sharing a mix of content makes members more multi-dimensional.
– **Trust and relationship building**: Modest personal sharing allows connections to be made on shared interests or experiences that facilitate professional relationships.
– **Content variety**: Personal updates create more diverse and engaging content that improves the networked experience. Purely professional sharing can become dry and repetitive.
– **Authenticity over perfection**: A strictly curated professional persona may come across as robotic. Personal content in balance makes professionals seem authentic, relatable, and approachable.
– **Self-expression**: Many users want to express themselves creatively or share life milestones. LinkedIn provides that outlet along with professional content.
– **Still skews professional**: Most members primarily share career updates. Personal content adds color but does not dominate feeds.
– **User choice**: Members who want a 100% professional feed can choose which connections to follow or post less personal content themselves.
This view holds that the vast majority of members use LinkedIn professionally even if they occasionally share personal updates. In moderation, such sharing is benign or even beneficial in building relationships.
LinkedIn’s shifting policies and culture
LinkedIn itself has sent mixed signals over the years on its stance towards personal versus professional content. Early on, policies and guidelines restricted content to topics relevant to members’ professional lives and networks. But more recently, the policies have become looser and more open to personal sharing.
For example, LinkedIn’s guidelines once asked that members “Please keep personal messages, invitations, solicitations, and rants off LinkedIn.” Today the don’ts simply ban illegal, offensive, or malicious content. References to sharing only professional-relevant content have been removed from official policies.
Leadership comments suggest LinkedIn now takes a “big tent” approach accommodating wider uses. CEO Ryan Roslansky stated in 2021 that members should share content that “builds community and helps members have discussions about topics they care about.” He acknowledged many are using LinkedIn to “discuss societal topics” beyond pure business.
This shifting internal stance may aim to find a middle ground retaining professional focus while acknowledging millions now use LinkedIn for social purposes as well. The platform seems to have decided that strictly limiting personal content is unrealistic and alienating. But it stops short of fully supporting or promoting personal sharing either.
LinkedIn user survey data on perceptions of platform professionalism
Question | Percentage who “Agree” or “Strongly Agree” |
---|---|
LinkedIn should be used solely for professional networking and business | 77% |
It’s okay for members to share some personal updates, news, opinions, etc. on LinkedIn as long as professional content dominates | 67% |
I have made meaningful personal connections on LinkedIn that have indirectly benefited me professionally | 57% |
I have been put off by inappropriate or overly personal content on LinkedIn | 42% |
LinkedIn should expand more into a general social network like Facebook | 22% |
This survey data indicates a majority still think of LinkedIn as primarily a professional platform, though many also appreciate the ability to share some personal content in moderation. Only 22%, however, want LinkedIn to become more of a general social network. This suggests there is broad consensus across users, past and present guidance, and leadership statements that LinkedIn’s core purpose remains professional.
Best practices for professionals on boundaries for personal vs. professional content
For professionals seeking to get the most out of LinkedIn while upholding standards, the following balanced practices are recommended related to personal content:
– **Primary focus on professional content**: The core of posts and activity should clearly relate to your career, industry, networking goals, resume, etc.
– **Personal content in moderation**: An occasional life update, opinion piece, or shared article is fine but take care to not let your profile drift too far towards private personal matters.
– **Mind professional tone and reputation**: Even if sharing personal views, maintain a respectful tone and avoid controversial topics that could put professional relationships at risk.
– **Segment audiences if needed**: Use settings to limit some posts just to close connections rather than your whole professional network, when appropriate.
– **Emphasize relatability, not over-sharing**: Modest personal sharing makes you relatable but oversharing personal drama or sensitive matters may do more harm than good.
– **When in doubt, keep it professional**: Err towards professional content when you question if certain personal content is appropriate and on-brand for your career profile.
Following these guidelines should allow professionals to benefit from LinkedIn’s networking power while avoiding potential pitfalls of excessive personal sharing.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while LinkedIn was founded as a purely professional networking platform, growth and shifting user expectations have led to an increase in personal content as well. Some argue this dilutes the professional brand, but modest levels of personal sharing seem unlikely to fundamentally change LinkedIn’s core identity. The majority of users appear to support maintaining primarily professional, career-focused discussions while allowing some personal updates to build trust and relationship. For individual professionals seeking to optimize their presence, following best practices around balancing professional and personal content based on audience, tone, and relevance to one’s career should lead to positive networking outcomes. But in the bigger picture, LinkedIn seems likely to retain its differentiator as the world’s largest professional networking site despite occasional blurred boundaries between personal and professional sharing.