LinkedIn Posts-The good, the bad and the ugly.

When I was little my father bought me a pair of walkie talkies. They were huge and clunky but they amazed me. These devices gave me the ability to communicate with someone miles away. I felt so powerful despite not really having anything important to say. Most of what I transmitted was nonsense. A lot has changed since then. We have platforms that enable us to communicate with the entire world in an instant. That’s power that eight year old Kacy couldn’t have even imagined. How are we leveraging that power? What are we saying?

As far as I can tell, LinkedIn content falls into three categories. The good, the bad and the ugly.

The good...

Educational- This is content that aims to teach it's viewers something. It could be advice, information, proposed best practices or strategies. For most of us, it’s the closest thing to  delivering a TED talk  that we’ll ever do.

Entertainment- Anything from funny stories to videos of adorable animals in unusual situations. This is the stuff your high strung friends tell you should be on Facebook, not LinkedIn. In moderation, this can be a welcome break from the the hyper professional content that your overachieving friends are posting all day long.

The bad...

Stream of Consciousness- Did you have a bad day? Are all sales people/managers/candidates/recruiters evil? Did someone reheat fish in the office microwave again? Why not tell the world about it?  I’ll tell you why, you’ll likely come across as bitter which isn’t a good look if you’re concerned about personal branding or searching for a job.

The ugly...

Bragging/Humble Bragging - Remember that seventy-four year old with purple hair and facial tattoos who showed up two hours late for their interview because they stopped for a couple of beers to calm their nerves that you hired as your Director of Operations? Of course you do. If you don't post about it, how will everyone know how compassionate you are? Here’s an idea, do good because it’s the right thing to do, not for the likes and comments it’ll generate.

LinkedIn is a game changer. It gives us tremendous power and access to a massive audience. How we use that power is up to us. We can either spew nonsense like eight year old (and sometimes present day) Kacy or we can provide our audience with compelling content and real value. The choice is yours.