5,000 LinkedIn followers…… a humbling and fascinating ride thus far
COL (Ret) William M. (Chris) Wyatt
National Security, Defense Consultant
November 18th, 2018
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you once more for your interest in the topics, issues and ideas which I also find interesting and more especially in your interest following my thoughts on those matters. This morning we reached 5,000 followers here on LinkedIn. I am most grateful and thank you once more. As I have mentioned at each milestone (3,0000, 4,000), it’s not exactly the level of interest that Richard Branson or Bill Gates have, but it is just as important and certainly appreciated (by me of course).
Some who stumble across my profile on LinkedIn are a bit confused to see me posting, commenting or even writing articles on such a wide range of topics. From rugby development, to HIV, to South Tirol, energy, plastics, security, defense, education, China, Africa and so on. Perhaps it is because I have lived in so many places and done so many things, or perhaps it is because of my curiosity and desire to learn more of the world around me and the people in it. Whatever the case, I have always found the world and its inhabitants fascinating.
From my perspective, LinkedIn CAN be a valuable learning tool for busy professionals to learn, share or even now and then to be a bit cheeky for a lighter moment. I have been a long time LinkedIn member and was initially reticent to dive into the social media aspect of the site as it caught on. Between my profession and how I had viewed the social media aspect of LinkedIn at the time, for a long time I posted little. Initially I thought I saw too much of what I viewed as advertising, politicking (left and right!), unsubstantiated op-ed (we already get enough of that from commercial and state-run media) or just simple linking to news stories. But after I had read one or two of what I thought were thoughtful, cogent posts with some analytical rigor applied, my view began to change. In mid-2017, I started to comment on more posts as well as add my own. As I did so, I saw perhaps the most valuable benefit of this social media tool: encountering more and more professionals who share interests and have valuable insights and views on topics.
Initially I focused on writing “articles” on LinkedIn. My first was about an impressive South African light aircraft that was coming on the market, the AHRLAC. From there I posted a reply to a very misleading New York Times piece “Counterpoint” on “Trump’s Africa policy,” something that did not even exist at the time. The NYT had ignored my response to their factually incorrect article. I realized that LinkedIn could be a place to post it and reach an audiance. With the 10th anniversary of my security sector reform experience in Liberia looming, I started posting short articles and photos for significant events from the time period like “President Bush Visits Monrovia."
As I published these articles and added postings, more folks joined the conversation and added to the discourse (on all sides of the issues). However, it was the coup d’etat in Zimbabwe that really seemed to draw a big crowd. When much of the academic and policy world was ether uncertain or unwilling to call the events what they were, I used LinkedIn to post news stories, share my thoughts and analysis and ultimately to publish several articles that allowed for deeper analysis beyond the 1,200 character limitation for posts. “Zimbabwe’s Coup” appeared about 15 hours after the events began. I followed this with an article on Emerson Mnangagwa’s return from South Africa in “The Crocodile Comes Back to the Nest," the prospect of impeachment for Mugabe, and my projections for the 2018 elections as the coup unfolded in Zimbabwe.
While the articles are a useful way to dive into a topic in a timely manner (far quicker than months of effort to get published in an academic journal), they seem to draw less readership than postings. I’m still trying to sort out why. I suspect the reason is that, as the assertion goes “busy professionals and senior leaders have so little time” that they easily gravitate to brevity. Perhaps, I am not yet certain. Whatever the case I have found that those who do read articles most often offer cogent, thoughtful commentary.
A brief selection of my recent articles:
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South Africa: Land and Poverty, April 7th, 2018
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Can the MDC Win Zimbabwe's 2018 Election?, Feb 14th 2018
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Military Sales and Foreign Policy, March 29th, 2018
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South Africa Wins with Ramaphosa Selections.. But Much Work Awaits Him, December 19th 2017
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U.S Security Cooperation in Africa, October 21st, 2017
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Learning should be a lifelong experience. We are never too old to learn a new skill or language (though that one is more difficult as the years pass!). There are plenty of folks who follow me and find issue with my analysis or views at times, I welcome this and encourage frank discourse. There are always subtle shades of gray on most issues. The valuable aspect of LinkedIn fostering “professional social media” (term I coined for the posts here) is that educated, thoughtful commentary and ideas can be shared openly. We all profit from that.
Thank you,
Chris Wyatt
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Thank you for sharing , how you did it... inspiring thought leadership
“We got here. What’s next?”?? Pioneer. Dad. Teacher. Scientist. Educator. Nebraska Entrepreneurship Education Adrian4NE.com; Chief Future Architect. Accelerate innovation. In companies & self.
5 年My fear is that LinkedIn algorithms reduce viewership of articles over posts. That’s a pity but it is unfortunately what we have to deal with in the knowledge production and dissemination field. It’s rarely if ever the knowledge of better value that achieves higher reach to readership as it is “knowledge” promoted by more powerful interests that gets pushed into the market place of ideas. If we found a good way to change that we’d be making the world a better more educated wiser place.
Chief Security Advisor at John Uwaya & Associates
6 年Thanks for sharing and congrats for the milestone. But I think the outcome could be even better if only you accept connection requests.