Have we collectively lost sight of LinkedIn's raison d'être?

At its best, LinkedIn is a highly valuable business networking tool, used by millions worldwide to develop their professional networks, create new business pipelines and perhaps most importantly of all, to enable employers to find staff and for staff to discover potential employers.

Despite these clear benefits, has all of this come at a genuine cost? In a world which seems increasing narcissistic, not a day goes by when we aren't exposed to the latest examples of virtue signalling, political posturing and boastful braggarts extolling their virtues before their global audience, some of whose followers then obediently jump onto the bandwagon, while others steadfastly dive headlong into toxic debates that seem to catch fire and escalate in the blink of an eye.

One question which comes to mind is "have we lost the art of courteous debate?" After all, it was Oscar Wilde who said "I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an ass of yourself." Our modern day crusade of trying to minimise all potential offence coupled with palpable pressure to declare your stance on any number of (non-business related) topics has invariably led to bland, sanitised debate at one end of the scale and some of the worst examples of vacuous self-promotion at the other.

I began using LinkedIn way back in 2008 at a time before social media had had the chance to fully spread its tentacles across the world. At that time, it was a very business-focused networking site. To have seen a post relating to anything other than core business topics would have been virtually unthinkable. Fast forward to 2022, a 5 minute scroll through a typical feed will see the average user encounter posts and articles and posts which are so far off-topic - not to mention toxic and quite often, downright nasty - that it paints a somewhat depressing picture when you consider the original purpose and mission of the project.

No-one is expecting a miracle here and whilst we can't realistically expect an overnight turnaround in the conduct of some of the more belligerent keyboard warriors amongst us, perhaps it is time to change things up. For many years, there was an all-out focus on driving user acquisition for LinkedIn until they reached the point of critical mass. Now that they have arguably reached that point and for many, serve as an indispensable tool for professionals the world over, is now the right time for them to issue some guidelines and show people the right way to conduct themselves on a social media platform? After all, they have the audience and wield significant influence these days.?

Needless to say, the mere suggestion opens another giant can of worms in the sense of "just who gets to be the arbiter of healthy, robust yet courteous debate?" In such a polarised society as ours, I'd say the odds are going to be somewhat long on reaching a consensus on such a point.

Nevertheless, what a great opportunity to improve a situation which has depressingly spun out of all control.

Thanks for reading.?

Aaron Davies