Six years ago, I was worrying about how many likes my sub-par tweets and latest selfies received. With Instagram’s update, which removes likes from random accounts, this is less of a problem. As for the former, I have since deleted my Twitter account upon realizing that the world is just not ready for my puns.
Now, I find myself in the confusing realm of LinkedIn, a social media platform dedicated to career networking. Imagine a more crisp version of Facebook where you post about your latest promotion instead of your most recent outing with your friends. Upon entering Connecticut College, freshmen were encouraged to create a LinkedIn profile so that they could start promoting themselves and break into the career fields they are interested in. After meeting with my Career Advisor and multiple Career Fellows at Conn, I created a LinkedIn profile and now have over 470 connections. I spent the majority of my winter break last year stalking various Conn alumni who had connections in the fields of journalism, publishing, marketing, and public relations. In all honesty, it became a guilty pleasure of mine, adding connections to my profile and seeing all the different fields an English major could pursue.
However, like every social media platform out there, LinkedIn has some drawbacks, too. Besides the random notifications I receive on the daily, which are hardly of great interest (kind of like when you get a Facebook notification from an elementary school friend who just liked her aunt’s photo from a family holiday party two weeks ago), LinkedIn makes me feel just as self conscious and critical of myself and future. What a dark thought! But it’s true. Comparing yourself to others is a constant obstacle in the modern age of technology. The only difference is that instead of being able to leave this comparison at your cubicle when the clock strikes five, LinkedIn reminds you that someone else is building a stronger resume than yours.
So the follow up question is, how do you combat this? To be honest, I am probably not the perfect person to address this, as I am still trying to find ways to not completely crumble like a blueberry scone every time I see that a peer was just accepted into the internship program I was eyeing. In these moments, my resume (which contains more than my email address and telephone number) becomes completely blank as I start to feel like a worthless pile of overcooked pasta from Harris Dining Hall.
My biggest piece of advice: don’t dwell on this feeling; it isn’t healthy and it definitely won’t help you find an equally amazing summer internship. Instead of staring into the abyss contemplating your life decisions, I recommend that you take a moment to remind yourself of all of the amazing opportunities you have had over the years and take a look over your own profile which I can guarantee is filled with more extracurriculars than you think. Take a moment to remember that social media is ultimately a virtual presence that does not capture the entirety of a person or their prospects. It is impossible to judge your past, present, or future on a single notification which may seem at first that someone else is moving through life faster than you, when for all you know they were just talking your LinkedIn profile wishing they had your job.
We already face so much pressure from outside forces including our professors, parents, and relatives, who tell us what we should do with our lives and how hard it will be “making it” in the real world. Why confound this stress tenfold with a social media platform such as LinkedIn? I am not suggesting that you should delete your LinkedIn profile or go on a lifelong social media cleanse, but understand that your career prospects are far more than another person’s job update. When in doubt, be happy for the other person as it’s a doggy dog world out there and anyone who is able to latch onto a mystical summer internship deserves a high five, but don’t forget to give yourself a pat on the back, too. Perhaps new career platforms like Girlboss will cultivate a less pressure-cooker environment for women to share their highs and lows, network, and hopefully find their dream job.
LinkedIn has taught me a lot about networking and creating my own brand, but sometimes these lessons come at the expense of my mental wellbeing. Unfortunately, the reality is that life can sometimes feel like a competition and there are not always enough jobs and internships to go around. Social media platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram only compound this fact. While I have been able to facilitate conversations with alumni and reach out the companies I am interested in applying for internships, I have also had moments where I wanted to delete the app (maybe along with all my other social media, too). Then again, there is nothing like the excitement of receiving a notification that so-and-so wants to connect on LinkedIn. Look at me making strides towards my future all the while laying in my bed till 11 am contemplating the meaning of life!