There are two times I open LinkedIn:

First, to find new clients.

Second, to track down the ridiculous posts that find their way onto the r/LinkedInLunatics subreddit and to read the comments.

Why does the subreddit exist?

There is a funny bizarreness of what gets shared on the platform nowadays. What was once a platform for people to connect with their peers and find better career opportunities, soon became plagued by the same outward show of narcissism that is rampant on other social networks.

It began innocuously, with people sharing their promotions and job experiences. Soon, as the platform became more and more important for professionals, the grifters joined in the fun.

Their aim was simple — to use the platform to build a following and establish themselves as an expert in their field. This worked for several years as those who had something to share were able to find a following that appreciated the value of their posts.

However, here is where the train went off the rails.

The platform was then targeted by individuals, who had no worthwhile experience to speak of and nothing valuable to add to the zeitgeist, yet sought the virality that others in their space were receiving. After all, getting a speaking invite is a lot easier when you can boast of the social proof of having thousands of followers on LinkedIn.

So, the strategy was to game the algorithm to prop yourself up as a “thought leader” in your neck of the woods. But most of them just don’t have enough insights to share on the timeline every day.

This is where the comedy material that populates r/LinkedInLunatics today started prospering.

With nothing substantial to report on while still feeling the need to feed the hungry algorithm, LinkedIn turned into a cesspool of humblebrag posts disguised as advice.

Quoting great national leaders and business leaders from the past and applying their advice to one’s failing SaaS; quoting classic book and movie characters and claiming them to be the source of one’s inspiration; sharing anecdotes about work interactions that show basic human decency but framing it as something they deserve an award for; sharing one’s daily routines to show off how hard they work; long diatribes about legacy, the value of creating, the virtue of entrepreneurship and on and on and on…

And everyday users can see through the façade.

The epitome of such low-effort content is the iconic LinkedIn post, “I proposed to my girlfriend this weekend. Here is what it taught me about B2B sales.” While anyone who was paying attention immediately figured out the post to be satire, there were hundreds of commenters who took it at face value.

And r/LinkedInLunatics is filled with such posts — half of them satire, half of them serious, and some so masterfully or stupidly crafted that you don’t know which is which.

So, what went wrong?

The subreddit is a testament to what can go wrong in a world where appearances are everything and substance is an afterthought.

It is content for the sake of content — the regurgitation of the limited aspects of the poster’s understanding of their field spun into seemingly profound epiphanies that anyone else can replicate.

Most use it to virtue signal others about the sacrifices that they made for their careers. In doing so, they try to shame those who, they feel, don’t meet their own standards of commitment to work.

It is a holier-than-thou approach that seeks to justify their position in life strictly as a consequence of their actions — not some anomaly that wouldn’t have existed had some things gone differently in their past.

LinkedIn gives those with corporate success an even bigger platform to get validation from. I believe that it is as bad as the mental effect crisis currently affecting teen boys and girls all over the world.

LinkedIn now is just Instagram for adults who felt they weren’t invited to enough parties growing up.

Another reason people get so obsessed with LinkedIn followers is their propensity to mix their personal identity with their professional one.

But can you really blame them?

During a time of record levels of income inequality, who wouldn’t partake in a little pretentiousness if it can elevate your income and status in life?

The Dark Side

While we can sit back and laugh at the delusional posts on the subreddit, there are impacts that many seldom stop to think about.

Firstly, the inability to separate your work life and personal life creates employees who are scared to unplug lest it harm their career prospects.

When every small interaction you have throughout the day could be a LinkedIn post, you get tuned to only conduct yourself in a way to get the most brownie points.

It also affects those who don’t want to play these games. The socializing of everything compels those who want to stay on the sidelines and just do their damn work, to join in and keep up appearances for their career.

You are forced to compete with others on a playing field where the arbiter is not how good of a worker you are, but how credible you seem to those around you — which are two distinctly different things.

Hope For The Future

I want LinkedIn to be a place where I can go to once in a while to see how the people I worked with in the past are doing.

I want it to be a place where I can learn more about the exciting new developments in my field.

I want it to be a place where I don’t feel forced to stay on for hours for a better career.

I’ll end this by saying that there are many skills you can learn to improve your career and grandstanding on LinkedIn is not one of them.