The 5 People You Meet In LinkedIn

I was one of the early adopters of LinkedIn - I started using this platform in 2005 and have been actively using it for the past 19 years.

Recently, I've noticed that LinkedIn has tried to pivot towards a 'Social Media Sharing' model like Facebook or Instagram, but has been achieving rather strange, unintended outcomes.

Just take a browse through your LinkedIn Feeds and you will see an unhealthy competition for eyeballs - an almost shameless cry for attention.

So today, I will (tongue-in-cheekily) summarise the 5 Types of People you will meet on LinkedIn. (Note: pictures generated by AI-software)

1. The 'Humble Bragger'

You can spot this character a mile away from their posts which invariably (verbatim) go like "I'm so humbled to have been awarded this Best-Whatever Prize".

Or "It was an absolute Privilege to be recognised as the the Industry's Blah-Blah-Blah".

I think you get the picture.

Now, don't tag me for a 'sour-grape' because I'm always happy when people win stuff, like the time in University when my team won 2nd Prize at a National Intervarsity Debate...because there were only 2 teams taking part (#TrueStory).

But don't couch it as a 'humbling experience', because it is not, otherwise you wouldn't be announcing it to the World.

Just say, "Damn, I won it... eat that, suckers!"

2. The 'Attention Cravers'

Oh... Don't even get me started on these folks.

You can recognise them by their almost daily posts which usually include a photo of themselves...even though the post has nothing to do about themselves.

A mean friend of mine once described them as "Shameless Self-Promoters with no sense of propriety" - and I had to reprimand him for being too judgemental... because a few actually do have some sense of propriety.

And I've always wondered how these Attention Hounds seem to have an endless plethora of selfies available for posting, which makes me wonder about their possibly narcissistic tendencies...

3. The 'AI Plagiariser'

Last week, I did a random sampling of several posts by folks who post regularly and fed their content through an AI-Detection software.

I was unsurprised to see that many of these posts were at least 50% AI-Generated and some were even wholesale 100% AI-copied.

There was even a charming poem written entirely by ChatGPT passed off as the writer's own.

Not to insult our future Robot Overlords who are probably reading this article and taking note of my remarks, but I do think it's ok to use AI for ideas... but copying entire paragraphs or lists and not attributing them, is the TEXTBOOK Definition of Plagiarism.

Please, proffer some integrity in your literary endeavour and mark out areas in your posts which are sourced from ChatGPT. <This sentence was generated by AI*- *Adrian Intelligence>

4. The 'Hustler'

These guys (and gals) are usually the 'Self-professed Gurus'.

They are the Experts in "Linkedin Promotion", "Personal Branding", "Championship Selling"... you name it and there'll be one peddling you their "how I can help you achieve your dream' story, all for a low-low price of $1000 a course.

Almost every post is laced with a hidden message of how successful they are at 'Solopreneurship' or 'Their Calling'.

And there's almost ALWAYS a sales angle to their posts that they do not even try to hide.

I've been told that they post very regularly and spend inordinate amounts of time 'liking other people's posts' and even joining "LinkedIn Pods" just to promote their profiles and earn a "Top LinkedIn Voice" Badge...which they feel can help boost their sales.

I can only imagine how exhausting that must be.

5. The 'Genuine Sharer'

And for all the colourful characters you meet on LinkedIn, this is the rarest but most wonderful species of Linkedin posters.

Their posts are thoughtful, informative and well-structured, written with the intention of sharing information and ideas in the hope of spurring discussion and sometimes amusement.

My favourite personality that falls into this category is Paul Mah, https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/paulmah/ whom I've come to know personally and am proud to consider him a close friend.

I actually look forward to his daily musings and am always so impressed by his deep knowledge and discipline in posting quality articles.

Teach me how, oh Great Master!!

So, if you're a regular Poster, which category do you fall into? Which category do you think I fall into (probably somewhere between #4 and #5)...

Do consider what people think of you when you post on LinkedIn as the Public Perception of you can stick, long after you've given up your days as a "LinkedIn Influencer"

Adrian Choo is a Thought Leader, Author and CEO/Founder of Career Agility International , a global Career Strategy Consulting firm.

A C-suite Mentor, he is a much sought-after speaker and can be heard on radio KISS92FM every Thursday morning where he shares his latest ideas on Careers.?Together with his co-founder, Yen , he puts a weekly Linkedin Live Show, "Career Success with Adrian and Yen" every Friday morning,

Adrian, together with his team, helps mid-career executives to find CareerClarity? and we can be reached via whatsapp at +65 8838 0557