Is professionalism still required on LINKED IN?

For those who read my articles on LinkedIn, my comments, or know me, you already understand I am not a social media expert. I have learned a considerable amount with the support of Rachael McMunn and the team at WGOC. Still ,there is only one social media platform I have spent time on, and that is LinkedIn.??

Facebook was never of interest to me and I have never been on it. I have also never been on Twitter (now X). I have had people explain to me that X is the wild west with respect to unfiltered comments.

LinkedIn was a platform when my company set me up on it back in 2010. I did not use it much. When I did go on it once per week, professionals asked me to connect and shared great business information on the platform. I was able to utilize the platform to learn, and leaders were sharing how they built great teams and companies. People shared best practices on how they improved processes, and IT professionals were sharing benefits of integration. My connections could (and were) helping me connect with other professionals in transportation in all areas globally to assist me or our customers.

?

When I joined Wellington Group our CEO pushed me out of a comfort zone to write articles. When I started in January of 2023, I did not know what to expect, and yet I received overall positive feedback. Some will and do challenge the information I post in a professional manner. I think that is the point of engaging other professionals, to get other views even if they do disagree. Having professionals that are experts on this platform has been a significant benefit, and the one thing in common all those adding value to the platform have is professionalism. They are not posting to be an influencer.? Generally speaking, they do not call themselves experts, and they leave that to the individuals they connect with or influence do describe.?

?

The new people coming on the LinkedIn platform are using language that is not professional. I have seen 'top voices' insult people and attack people for expressing their position or opinion. It was recently shared with me that many of these new accounts are people coming from X. These people will say whatever they want with NO concern, they publish information that is not factual, and they do not care who they hurt or if they flat out lie. They are all about the LIKES and Followers, and the more shocking the language/insults/'information' they use the more followers and engagement they gain. Is that what LinkedIn has become??

?

Is LinkedIn still committed to making this a site for professionals? Are they more concerned with taking market share from other platforms? If they continue to allow this type of unprofessional behavior, do we see more professionals moving to private platforms like SKOOL. Will we see more private platforms be created for professionals in specific industries to share best parties professionally?

?

Over the last couple of weeks I have removed over 200 connections and followers for comments they have made on this platform. This is easy for someone who does not care about Likes and Followers. If we do not vet followers, we do not remove followers who are unprofessional, are we doing our part to maintain the integrity and professionalism of the system?

?

If this is how the platform was intended to work? Did LI morph into X and many of us just did not see it coming? Will the professionals WIN over the unprofessional with positive interactions or will a lack of professionalism as strong as profanity, indecent references, personal insults, and discrimination continue???

?

Have you seen a change? How do you deal with users or followers who do not act in a professional manner? Interested to learn from my professional connections.

?

Thanks for reading!