Linkedin, Don't Become a Soapbox for Influencers to Push Political Agendas

Takehome:

• Agenda driving and blatant political divisiveness have already irreparably damaged the integrity of global mainstream media.
• Open platforms like Linkedin have a great chance to avoid a similar fate and should stick to the core values which underpins their success to date.
• In short my advice for Linkedin is to stick with the business of helping us do business... Leave the political rhetoric to Twitter and Facebook

The mainstream media is dead: Long live the new media

Yesterday I saw a post by one of Linkedin’s influencers Guy Kawasaki. It was in relation to tweets made by POTUS Donald Trump in the wake of recent terror attacks in London. Despite basically being click bait, the post, which asked readers to use a hyperlink embedded in the comments has already garnered a lot of interest with a mixed response from Linkedin users ranging from “wrong platform” to the usual Trump induced polarisation and political rhetoric.I actually didn't bother opening the link because instead what struck me was the worrying potential for Linkedin to become a soapbox for political agenda and other divisive content.

Politics, Policy, Regulation, Markets, Business...

I firmly believe that certain aspects of politics are fair game for Linkedin. Politics influences policy, legislation, regulation, markets and ultimately business.They are all inextricably linked....in

In terms of my own political persuasions, I would describe myself as a typical millennial... nihilistic, disillusioned, distracted and fatally apathetic. Despite all this, I can’t help but find myself mesmerised by the massive political changes and unrest sweeping the United States and the rest of the world at the moment...it's moth to a flame, car crash watching. It’s the fail compilation I know I shouldn’t be watching, let alone laughing at, but I’ve still hit the subscribe button.

Sure I can appreciate that for many people the grim realities of recent global events are all too serious but as an Irishman, living in China, and as a perennial fence-sitter I prefer to watch things with a cool detachment as they unfold, born from a love neutrality and the epistemological virtues of remaining on the fence until the smoke clears.

Dispensing with the veneer of objectivity

One of the most interesting developments for me has been the unprecedented polarisation of American media. Lines have been drawn in the sand, allegiances sworn and 2 forces now stand diametrically opposed to each other. It’s not a Ying and Yang type of relationship either ...it’s straight up night and day, “with us or against us”.

CNN, NBC, MSNBC, on one side and Fox, RT and various previously more extreme right online media publications on the other. The middle ground has evaporated and the vacuum created is sucking the sense and sensibilities of bystanders into an intellectual black hole.A black hole that links to a bizarre alternate reality where media coverage and political discourse have completely degenerated and terms like fake news which would be better suited in an Orwellian dystopia have become normal. What next fake fake news...?

The idea that media could be somehow politically divisive and pursue an agenda other than supplying unbiased information has gone from the shadowy recesses of YouTube conspiracy to becoming blatantly and frustratingly obvious. The two sides of global media are now so divided and obviously driven by ulterior agendas which supersede any journalistic ethic to uphold the sanctity of unbiased reporting that even token efforts to appear somewhat fair have been dispensed with.

Pick your Poison

It’s gotten to the stage where watching the mainstream news with anything other than a cool detachment can now really only be considered as acquiescence to voluntary brainwashing with the comfort of having your own bias reaffirmed.

As consumers of media, we now have the luxury of choosing from a wide and flavoursome variety of rabid vitriol, indignant stoicism, machinations, subterfuge, conspiracy and political satire. The extreme one-sidedness, the constant stream of criticism or praise depending on the channel is farcical to the level where it should prompt even the most hardcore political zealot to think “the lady doth protest too much, methinks”.

Something is up, something is rotten in the state of......but I digress...is Linkedin really the place for political discourse ?..I've accepted the selfies and the profound memes, but cmon...

Linkedin: An oasis in a desert of media manipulation

In reality, the lack of an oasis in this desert of media manipulation is a worrying trend. Linkedin has already gone a long way to fulfilling that role for me. Since the development of Linkedin publications, I tend to do the vast majority of my reading here learning from some very smart people. It's awesome, hats off to Linkedin, I'm really appreciative and you guys have done a wonderful job.

But I'm hoping to see less political content here on Linkedin...and I'm hoping influencers will use their vaunted position tactfully...It's an era where extreme lengths are taken to attempt to shape political discourse, optics and narrative, a world of fake social media profiles and internet shills. To maintain the integrity of Linkedin something must be done.Basically, unless its political content which directly relates to policy, legislation, regulation, markets with a direct impact on business it doesn't have a place here...

What do you think?