How I Tried to Commit LinkedIn Suicide and Failed
Guy Kawasaki
On a mission to make people remarkable. Chief evangelist, Canva. Host, Remarkable People podcast.
Some people have expressed their dismay at my recent emphasis on political posts. They say that I'm ruining my brand and losing followers and that people on LinkedIn don’t want posts about politics. Or, perhaps more accurately, they don’t want posts that don’t support their view.
These are the stats of the number of followers I’ve had in the past 120 days. I started the political posts in February. In short, a large number of people aren’t unfollowing me, and I’m attracting the same amount of new followers—netting out at roughly 1,000 per day. Also, the ratio of Likes to negative comments is about 5-10 to 1 on my political posts.
Update 4/4/2017. I’m now gaining approximately 2,000 followers per day. My conclusion: if you want to gain followers, post anti-Trump stuff. :-)
I think that people want political news—after all, what part of Trump’s agenda doesn’t affect business? The stats don’t indicate that I’m shooting myself in the foot. That said, even if I was losing followers, I would still do what I'm doing because I will not look back at this time and say, “I could have done more, but I was afraid of losing followers.”
I’d also like to help people avert accidental suicide. I’ve had executives from organizations such as Accenture, Wal-Mart, and large digital agencies criticize me for my criticism of Trump. I’ve made a conscious decision to take my political stance, and I am willing to face the consequences. I caution you, however, to think twice about making political comments.
When people look at your profile, they will see where you commented and with a click, see the comment. So don’t assume that your comments are buried deep inside my timeline on my posts where no one will see them. Ask yourself: “If my boss happened to check me out on LinkedIn, would you want her to see the comments that I’ve made?” For that matter, would you want a headhunter or potential customer to see your comments?
Going political hasn’t affected my brand and LinkedIn presence as far as I’ve seen—really, I think my political posts have helped me develop an even more loyal readership, but I don’t know what will happen if you get political too.
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6 年One has to be true to his own believes.? My preference will be to work with someone that shares those believes and not to suck up to a boss that I do not like in the personal aspects and values. "You joint a company, you leave because of your boss".? This is the same if you are heading a team and more so in a global environment.? It will not help him/her, nor me or the company we all work for.? I have read your books and posts and as a professional, I learned from your experience.? As human, I learned integrity and standing for what you believe. This is how you measure success.
Retired senior GM SE REGION MIURA NA
6 年I am curious Howdo You measure" success"?
3D Technology Consultant / Entrepreneur
6 年For better or worse “Planting the Flag” takes courage. You knew that Guy. I am one of them that left your feed, not because I don’t admire you. A smart strategist only plays when he's won the game before starting. I'm not exactly sure what you're up to but many of us are quiet knowing that any president is powerless without the people. I choose not to attack but to collaborate with people that disagree with me. By listening, we force them to speak aloud, to hear their own voice. Over time, their logic fails, the excuses build, the argument disintegrates. Critical thinking like Elon Musk likes to use: Aristotle’s FIRST PRINCIPLE will ultimately win out.
Global Trade, Animation Dev, Event Dev Founder of [email protected]
7 年Guy, Your courage is respectable and admirable. My parents taught us to stand-up for what is right and for what we believe in in life. That is basically what you appear to be saying and doing. They went a step further on the issues of consequences, adding that some times we must be willing to die for what is right and not backdown. Life is precious. I appreciate you sharing your life so vividly with us. Thiess Baugh