LinkedIn Loss of Connection

I remember when LinkedIn was my rolodex. I kept track of my colleagues and my associates from long-forgotten jobs. Today, LinkedIn is a shell of it's former self. I don't go to LinkedIn for anything unless I'm looking for a job. (Fortunately, I'm not looking.)

What's killed LinkedIn's value?

I know I have entirely too many connections. Most of them were added in a rush for greatness and reach. But organic reach has been killed on all social platforms. It wasn't long after Microsoft bought LinkedIn that the metrics started getting worse and worse. At one point, I even used LinkedIn as a blog, for leadership articles and stuff about career and work. Today, the articles (like this one) get very little love, unless you want to pay to have them promoted.

Promoted to who? Recruiter? (Not my audience.) Future employers? (Nope.) With this post, I will see what the *modern* reach is here. But, I'm not very optimistic.

It's not all that great anywhere. Facebook is all ads and "boost your post to reach the people who asked you to reach them." IG and Pinterest have uses, but mostly, they provide little or no lift to my content empire. But, LinkedIn is a hard one to give up. If I leave Facebook and I reduce my connections on LinkedIn to the "known and spoken to" crowd, I'm going to be quite lonely.

Well, maybe not. Maybe I'll be more productive. Maybe social media has been a waste of time all along. Maybe my reach is what I make. Even Twitter killed their reach. I used to be able to drive a ton of readers with my Twitter accounts, but today, NOBODY IS READING.

Nobody is reading, but we're all posting like made. We're all copy and pasting memes and funny pictures. But no one is reading. Whom are we posting for then? Are we posting to build momentum for the platforms that are monetizing our connections? ACK!

It's time to stop.

I'm withdrawing my activity on Facebook AND LinkedIn. I'm eliminating followers and friends who are not known to me. I'm closing down my social production on these consumer marketing platforms.

You'll still find my online. I'll be tweeting and writing. And, if you know me, let's connect for coffee or Zoom (if you're out of town) and have a conversation about whatever you'd like to talk about. I'm a chatty-happy ENFP, ready for real connections and leaving behind my false *social media* connections. There's nothing to them.

John McElhenney?— let’s connect online

@jmacofearth?&?Facebook?&?LinkedIn?&?The Whole Parent

PLEASE READ:?Letters to a Young Artist in the Digital Age?from John Oakley McElhenney