What not to post on LinkedIn

I read somewhere that if you’re short of things to write about, write about what irritates you and the words will flow so here goes…

The best posts or articles on LinkedIn are the ones that are about ideas, thoughts or reflections that challenge the way people see and think about the world of work. The challenge we all face is that this is genuinely difficult. It requires you to think and reflect, to consider what people are saying and doing and wonder if it could be done better. This type of thinking can’t be done whilst we’re focussed on the next thing on the ‘to do list’, in fact, I have found I only really get this level of clarity when I write and share my thoughts on a page.

We all face this challenge. Thinking and reflecting is hard and many of us don’t really have time to do it. But at the same time, we need to be visible on social media because we don’t want to be forgotten.

What this leads to is people sharing underwhelming content that is designed purely to generate a reaction rather than provide anything of any real value. Rather than build your personal brand, I think it actually undermines it. Have a look at these examples and see what you think;

The Righteous Indignation – This type of post is angrily written. Someone believes that they’ve been wronged and is sharing it with a view to getting other people to agree with them. For example, someone who gets paid for speaking gigs asks if they’d do someone else ‘a favour’ and do it for free. Rather than just say ‘no’ or work out a way to come to some sort of win:win agreement, they just share the story of this experience with righteous indignation. I have been asked to speak for free on several occasions. Sometimes I do it, sometimes I don’t. It depends upon my capacity and if we can work together to find a good enough win:win. I spoke at the Centre for Army Leadership in February 2019. It was a free gig but I am so glad I did it as I was able to get access to the filmed footage and share it online. That was worth a hell of lot more than sharing a story expressing some sort of righteous indignation. This sort of post is written by someone seeking victim status. It doesn’t do them or anyone else any good.

Abysmal Advice – Advice is guidance based on someone else’s experience. Sometimes this is useful, often it’s not. One example I came across was someone sharing a productivity hack in which they outlined how they spend a couple of hours on a Sunday night getting to ‘inbox zero’ before the start of the working week. This might have worked well for them but firmly fits into the domain of appalling advice. What they’d actually done is extend the working week which isn’t a productivity hack at all, it’s just working longer hours. I don’t think it’s my role to tell people how or when to work, that’s for each of us to figure out ourselves. But extending the working week and claiming it to be a productivity hack really isn’t helpful.

The Humblebrag – It’s great to see people being recognised and doing well but these posts don’t inspire people or add any value to anyone else. If the award is genuinely a big deal, well done but most of the time they aren’t.?You can do better. Share some content about an interesting idea or someone else’s achievements, not your own.

The Outrageous Lie – The most recent one I came across was someone posting about a conversation they had with an Uber Driver who said ‘they were too pretty to be in business’. This is the outrageous lie. The story is so far-fetched and unbelievable that it almost certainly didn’t happen. When combined with the outrageous indignation, the combination is potent. It will generate likes and comments but at the expense of your integrity which I believe is worth far more.

These are just the top four that I think I see most often. If you’re taking the time to share content, make it interesting, have a point of view. Share something unusual. Don’t lie, brag or churn out rubbish advice that does more harm than good. It cheapens your personal brand – you can do better.

What have I missed - what else have you seen that sits outside of these categories?