When we first started using LinkedIn, the platform had a clearer purpose. Working life, professional connections, career opportunities, industry news, company updates, job listings and professional posts…
In short, LinkedIn represented the more orderly, more serious and more professional side of the business world.
Of course no social media platform has to stay as it began. Over time the user base changes, habits develop, content types diversify. That is perfectly normal. But when I look at LinkedIn in recent years, I think the platform has been slowly drifting away from its own purpose.
Today on LinkedIn we no longer see only content about the business world. Complaints, personal grievances, bursts of everyday anger, overly emotional stories, exaggerated success narratives, veiled hints, open messages to companies, customer dissatisfaction, and at times almost personal settling of scores…
All of these find a place in the LinkedIn feed.
And one cannot help asking:
Is LinkedIn really still a professional network, or has it turned over time into yet another social media platform where everyone writes everything?
A Professional Network Turned Complaint Platform
One of the things that has caught my attention most on LinkedIn in recent years is that the platform is increasingly used like a complaints area.
Someone unhappy with a company writes on LinkedIn.
Someone who had a problem during a service process tags the brand.
Someone who came away badly from a job interview exposes the process.
An employee sends an indirect message to a former workplace.
A customer describes the problem they had at length.
Of course injustices can be voiced. People can share the problems they face. Companies can be criticised too. There is basically nothing wrong with that. In some cases speaking openly can even help companies correct themselves.
But here too there is a fine line.
- Should every problem be carried to LinkedIn?
- Should every dissatisfaction be written as a complaint open to a professional network?
- Should every disagreement be turned into content everyone can see?
I think not.
Because a post on LinkedIn affects not only the company or person complained about but also the professional image of the person posting. Sometimes even a justified complaint, when written in the wrong tone, can overshadow its own justice.
Describing a problem is one thing; turning anger into content is another.
Professionalism Is Not Only About Titles
On LinkedIn we all exist with our professional identity in some way. Our work experience, titles, education, projects and connections are visible on our profile. So everything we write on this platform inevitably becomes part of our stance in working life too.
That is why, when posting on LinkedIn, we need to pay attention not only to “what we say” but also to “how we say it”.
We can criticise a company.
We can find a service inadequate.
We can see a process as badly managed.
We can find a practice unfair.
But the language we use while doing so also gives an idea about our own professional identity.
Sometimes I see posts on LinkedIn where, even if the person is right, the tone of the text, the words chosen and the atmosphere created turn the matter from professional criticism into a personal attack.
Yet in the business world criticism also calls for maturity.
Being firm is not the same as being rude.
Being clear is not the same as being hurtful.
Seeking your rights is not the same as calling for a lynching.
On a platform like LinkedIn I think it is very important to keep this distinction.
Does Every Story Have to Inspire?
One of the areas where LinkedIn has slipped outside its purpose is exaggerated storytelling.
People used to share job changes, projects, achievements or industry ideas. Now even the most ordinary events are sometimes turned into long, dramatic stories that must yield a lesson.
A coffee is drunk, and a lesson in leadership comes out of it.
A taxi ride is taken, and a customer experience analysis follows.
A conversation with a child takes place, and an entrepreneurial vision is explained.
A failure is experienced, and in the end the message “never give up” is sure to be delivered.
Of course there is much to learn from life. I too believe personal observations are valuable. But when every event is presented as a corporate lesson, a leadership message or a motivational story, it loses its sincerity after a while.
Sometimes you feel this:
Is this really a lived experience, or content staged to get engagement?
LinkedIn needs sincere stories. But sincerity is possible through natural telling, not through constantly dramatised content.
Sharing Success or a Race for Visibility?
There should of course be success sharing on LinkedIn. A person can announce a project they worked hard on, share that they have started a new job, celebrate their team’s success, show a training or certificate they received. These fit the spirit of the platform.
But here too we have over time arrived at another point.
In some posts you now feel less success and more a desire for visibility. Every small development is presented as a great victory. Every meeting is described as a strategic turning point, every event as a unique experience, every certificate as a giant step in a career journey.
Over time this makes LinkedIn a platform not of real achievements but of polished narratives.
Yet working life is not made of success alone. There is process, there is effort, there is difficulty, there are mistakes, there is waiting, and sometimes there is not succeeding.
I think we need more realistic posts on LinkedIn. Content that tells not only what we gained but also what we learned; that makes visible not only success but the process; that does not only praise itself but really brings benefit…
Open Letters to Companies
One of the kinds of content I often see on LinkedIn is open letters written to companies.
A cargo company, a bank, a technology company, an employer, a service provider is tagged and a long complaint is written. Sometimes truly serious grievances are described. Sometimes a small issue that could be solved is carried to the public in the language of a big crisis.
Here we come to the same point again: measure.
If a matter can be solved through private channels, those routes should be tried first. Customer service, a written application, the relevant department, official processes… If after exhausting these there is still no solution, public visibility may perhaps be a means of pressure.
But using LinkedIn as a complaint board as the first reflex damages the platform’s professional character.
Moreover, this creates a strange communication pressure for companies. Because some brands now respond faster to complaints visible on social media than to requests arriving through direct channels. This pushes users to the point of “I need to be visible to get my problem solved”.
When that happens the problem grows even more.
Opening Up Personal Life Too Much
I am not entirely against personal posts on LinkedIn. A person is not just a title in working life. All of us have lives, feelings, losses, joys, tiredness and hopes. Sometimes sharing them is very human.
But we need to act without forgetting that LinkedIn is a professional space.
Some content seems to belong to a quite different social media platform rather than LinkedIn. Overly personal details, family matters, hurts from private life, emotional settling of accounts or purely everyday grumbles…
These can be real in a person’s life. But not every truth has to be shared on every platform.
Sometimes setting a boundary is part of professionalism.
Is It Possible to Use LinkedIn Better?
I think it is.
LinkedIn can still be a very valuable platform. Used rightly, it is a strong place for reaching industry knowledge, meeting new people, seeing job opportunities, sharing ideas, supporting professional development and understanding how organisations work.
But this needs a somewhat more conscious use.
For example, if a complaint is to be written, the tone should be thought through first.
If a success is to be shared, what really adds value should be explained.
If a personal story is to be shared, one should ask what it tells the reader.
If a company is to be criticised, the matter should be expressed concretely, fairly and with measure.
If an opinion is to be written, it should contain thought, not only reaction.
I think what LinkedIn needs is not more content but better content.
Every Platform Needs a Spirit
Over time social media platforms have begun to resemble each other. We see news on Instagram, career advice on Twitter, personal drama on LinkedIn, financial tips on TikTok…
Perhaps this is a natural result of our age. Every platform mixes a little with the others. Still, I believe every medium should have a spirit.
I think LinkedIn’s spirit should be built on professional respectability, the exchange of ideas about the business world, career development, industry knowledge and measured communication.
This does not mean LinkedIn must be boring. On the contrary, a more human, more real and more sincere LinkedIn is possible. But sincerity and lack of measure should not be confused.
Every thought can be shared, but not every reaction is worth sharing.
Every problem can be told, but not every complaint belongs on the right platform.
Every success can be celebrated, but not every small development has to become a big story.
A Little More Measure, a Little More Intention
My basic criticism of LinkedIn is in fact this: the platform is gradually drifting from its purpose and turning into a general social media space where everything is shared.
Complaining, being visible, telling personal stories, polishing achievements, tagging companies, sharing everyday feelings…
Each of these on its own may not be wrong. But when they all come together, LinkedIn’s professional character weakens.
Perhaps before posting we should ask ourselves a few simple questions:
- Is this post really suited to this platform?
- Does it add value?
- Is my tone professional?
- Is the subject concrete?
- Does sharing this serve to produce a solution, or does it only vent a reaction?
Even these questions can be a sufficient start for using LinkedIn better.
Because in the business world, how we appear matters as much as being visible.
And perhaps what we need most on LinkedIn is not to post more, but to post with a little more thought.