What I've learned in the first 2 months on LinkedIn

Hold on... just to make this clear, I am on LinkedIn for ages. But to be fair, I really began using it in the last couple of months. Why? Because I just started a new job and basically had a month off. The problem with that was, that I didn't take a vacation or got off the grid for some weeks... I'm here to produce content like I did in the past 15 years. And when you have a busy mind and your head is full of ideas, you just can't stand still. You wanna publish, you wanna share, comment and engage. What a great way to explore LinkedIn and to try to figure out what this network is all about.

Things I love...

1. Content is king - Yes, forgive me that I'm kicking it off with this old-school bullshit bingo statement, but it's true. The postings, statements and articles on this network here, are second to none. Well, at least when you compare them to Twitter and Facebook. I still, and this might surprise you, have to mention Google+ which sports a very engaging and tech-savvy crowd and due to the fact that I'm all about tech, I still love to go there and interact with my followers.
2. You can have a discussion - Have you ever tried to engage in a public debate on Facebook or even worse, on Twitter? Well, good luck with that. Yes, you can always argue that the outcome of such discussions are telling you a lot more about your personal network than the platform itself, but I still think that LinkedIn just provides a different environment. It almost feels calm! I barely stumble upon trolls. It's rare to see comments that are trying to derail the discussion and everyone seems to be so nice.
3. The algorithm rocks - I passionately hate the Facebook, Google+ and Twitter algorithms. Facebook created one of the biggest filter bubbles and reality distortion fields of the modern world. Just head over and like a couple of articles and pages you disagree with and there you go. You will end up with a newsfeed-mess! Google+ is basically just an endless stream and it feels like you need to scroll for at least an hour to catch up on one day's output while Twitter has at least this "what you might have missed" option. LinkedIn constantly gets high-quality content back into my newsfeed even though it might have been around for a while. Listen, quality never gets old. I've dealt with way too many rushed news during my career as a professional tech blogger. This almost feels like Spa here.
4. Networking actually works - What a treat. You can make so many amazing contacts on LinkedIn and guess what? They actually reply to your mails! Whether you wanna reach out to colleagues (especially when you work for a global player and you still have to get your head around the internal structures) or to users from completely different industries. There seems to be a specific openness here. Yeah, it almost feels a little bit like a community. "We are in this together, so let's talk about it" might be the hidden mantra of this network. And to be honest... that's exactly what I was looking for.

Things I hate...

1. The Content sucks - Seriously, I thought this is a professional network! What's wrong with you guys posting pictures of your co-workers on years end parties where all I see is basically cleavage? I actually wonder who's the bigger weirdo in this game? The one who publishes such content or the one who likes it or even leaves comments like "I give her a 10+"? This is almost as scary as these "I'm gonna publish and share everything so I can climb up the ranking ladder" users here. What about having at least something to say about the picture or website you share? Why is this important to you and why should I care about it? I mean, you want me to spend precious time on it, so please let me know why! What's even worse.... those who publish articles to promote their new books, websites, newsletters and what not. Geez... could you please spam someone else?
2. You just can't have a real discussion here - Have you ever been to an event and you felt that you constantly have to hold back? This is LinkedIn in a nutshell. It feels like most of the users got muzzled here. Yeah, I'm getting it and I appreciate your politeness but you know what I like even more? Honesty! How do I know that this is your real opinion that you've just left on my article? This isn't about being rude, this is about being real.
3. The algorithm is dreadful - Ok, I'm getting it. You've made it to the top. You are living the American dream and you want everybody to know about it. Good for you! But why does LinkedIn think that this is important to me? Especially when your posting is already 6 months old and you probably lost all your Bitcoin wealth during one of the latest hacks! The LinkedIn algorithm is nothing more than a Facebook clone with less animated Gifs and pets!
4. Networking is annoying - "Dear Sascha, thank you for accepting my request to connect... here is what I wanna sell you!" Seriously? This is your pitch? Connecting to hundreds, if not thousands, of LinkedIn users and sending all of them the same message? Is this your way of getting someone excited about your idea? My inbox is full of these examples and it almost makes me feel like I'm back to the good old days of blogging and 500 startup guys are spamming me at the same time. Listen.. I'm here to get to know you, I wanna hear what your business is all about but please, don't be so rude to sell it to me in 2 sentences. I hate mass-emails and I would never ever respond to them. Ok?

LinkedIn is what you make of it!

LinkedIn is a fantastic service but it's about all of us and not just you or me! By constantly telling others what the do's and dont's are, you are trying to regulate an open platform. Do you want anyone to tell you: "I'm sorry but it's not appropriate to come up with a mobility service that might disrupt the world" or "give me a break. Do you really think that someone will use a social network app that lets it's messages disappear after you saw them?"...

Stop telling me or others what to do on LinkedIn. I can take care of myself. If you think spamming other users will help your business... well, good luck with that but it doesn't work for me.

Enjoy LinkedIn and if you don't, change it, fix it or just leave it!

Does your LinkedIn feed really suck and do you constantly get irrelevant content? Well, how about questioning your very own decisions? Like the people you follow here and this network that you've created for yourself! Yes, you can unfollow users and this might help you to clean up your feed!

At the end of the day, I do believe that quality content is the key to a successful LinkedIn experience. Don't get me wrong... I've also published some personal pictures and experiences here just to let you know, that I'm actually a real human being and that I'm enjoying my life!

Which is what should be your priority! Enjoy LinkedIn and if you don't, change it, fix it or just leave it! This is what makes you successful. In life, in business and on LinkedIn!