The days of comparing myself to others on Instagram are over. As a college student, one of the main social media platforms I use now is LinkedIn, a social networking and online job market app.
LinkedIn is a great place to flex your resume and accomplishments. It’s full of online job postings, internship and job announcement posts, and opportunities to social network with others in your industry. However, I’ve found that it can be more toxic than other social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook.
“LinkedIn is the fuel to my imposter syndrome.”
Sophie Ward
LinkedIn is the fuel to my imposter syndrome. Everything I’ve accomplished in life, including getting accepted into college, feels like nothing when I look at other people’s resumes and experiences. I question and doubt my abilities when I see someone with more experience, leadership positions, and jobs than I do. Sometimes, despite all my hard work and efforts, it feels like my best is not good enough.
Working myself to the brink of exhaustion is never enough, knowing that my LinkedIn is not impressive enough to employers compared to my peers. I feel defeated seeing others’ internship and job announcement posts, knowing my applications are rejected or ignored. Seeing others attain positions I wanted and could not get was a bit painful at first, but I’ve learned that nothing comes easy, and LinkedIn surely doesn’t make the heartbreak of not getting a position any easier.
Although LinkedIn can worsen my imposter syndrome and sometimes contribute to my low self-esteem, I’ve realized that it is just a social media platform to showcase the good things in people’s lives. Most people hide their rejections and disappointment from their LinkedIn followers so that we only see the good parts of their work experiences. Additionally, my LinkedIn does not compare to someone else’s because I have unique goals and am not trying to live someone else’s life. While toxic at times, I’ve understood that I cannot let LinkedIn undermine how I view myself and my abilities.