When it comes to toxic comparisons on social media, Instagram gets all the glory. Paired with Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat, the four can make any person go down a whole spiral of self-loathing. Forcing society’s standards in different ways: body type, skin colour, appearance, and more.
But those are all personal. Surely Linkedin, a more professional form of social media, has no issues, right? A website with over 225 million members, Forbes calls it “The World’s Largest Professional Network.” There are clear professional boundaries, people post as they would speak at an office, and it’s a great way to connect to more people. But Linkedin forces other comparisons on you: jobs, credentials and internships. In fact, Linkedin feels like a warped version of Facebook, where instead of births and engagements, people publicize their “synergy” and “bandwidth.”
One of Linkedin’s sole purposes is to brag about successes to future employers. There’s an excess focus on simulating optimism and excitement, rather than a clear-headed discussion on issues. It’s like a giant, living, breathing resume, complete with bad formatting, plasticized optimism and synthetic relationships. Not saying that being proud of yourself isn’t good, but the constant humblebrag posts about people getting employed, or getting promoted, can get tiring to read. Linkedin creates an echo chamber of successes but displays them as if that’s all there is to that person’s life. Excluding the challenges in their career, and polishing their achievements to compete for a job that they may not even be aware of. After going on Linkedin I get the urge to start applying to internships, fatten up my resume, create a website portfolio, and remind myself that I am not enough.
As far as housekeeping goes, we’re told to clean and maintain our Linkedin profiles much like cleaning that bookshelf in your basement. You do it because you’re told to not and for no real reason. I’m not here to tell you to stop using Linkedin. People actually do get a lot of opportunities from connecting with contacts through Linkedin, and it has amazing benefits. What I’m trying to say is: use it with caution.
Be aware of the echo chamber of successes posted in a row, waiting for you to feel bad about yourself and your achievements. You are more than the length of your Linkedin profile could even be able to portray.