Why is Snoop Dogg on LinkedIn?

To get to the bottom of why The Doggfather decided to join the 930 million of us on LinkedIn, I sat down with my friend, social media expert Casey Hall .?

Welcome back to Shrug Diaries, my newsletter where I share what I’m learning, thinking, and hearing, plus a curated mix of links worth your time. Thanks for being here. Trying out a new Q&A format today; let me know what you think!?

You may have noticed a certain rap and cultural icon making waves on LinkedIn in the past few weeks. That’s right, Snoop Dogg is here sharing life lessons, repurposing old content, giving his take on artificial intelligence, and pushing brand collaborations and products like Snoop Cereal and Dr. Bombay ice cream.?

And while I certainly applaud Mr. Dogg for getting on the platform, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about why he decided to do it now, what this means for the broader platform and social media landscape writ large, and if the content he’s publishing feels authentic or not. So I decided to sit down with my friend, the social media expert Casey Hall , to help sort out what’s going on and what we can all learn from it. Casey is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Lumberjack Social , on a mission to make social media better for everyone. We caught up over iced coffees (they didn’t have Gin & Juice) in Minneapolis. Our conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.?

Joel: Casey, thanks for agreeing to do this, it's lovely to see you. To me, Snoop Dogg joining LinkedIn feels like some kind of moment. We’ve seen celebrities join before, from Obama to Oprah. But for some reason this feels different.

Casey: It does seem like a cultural bridge has been crossed to have Snoop on LinkedIn, and I don’t know if that is saying more about Snoop Dogg or about LinkedIn. I don’t think that LinkedIn has gotten cooler.?

Joel: To me, it's either like LinkedIn is now officially not cool or it is. And I don't know which it is. I don’t think LinkedIn was ever “cool” I guess.

Casey: No, I don’t think it’s somehow gotten ironically cool. Maybe it has and I missed that part. I think maybe it’s more about Snoop Dogg repositioning himself. Some of my favorite ways I’ve seen him lately are when he’s cooking with Martha Stewart, or when they do the commercials for the lighters, or you know, he’s narrating a nature documentary. I really enjoy those kinds of things. And a big part of it is because it’s a little dissonant that Snoop Dogg is doing those things, at least for somebody who grew up with his music.

Joel: I think that’s a really good point. To me it feels like a continuation of this rap and cultural icon from the 90’s showing up in places you don’t expect him to. Of course there’s a big commercial aspect to that. He does a lot of different brand deals, collaborations, and interviews, so that makes sense.?

A big question for me is about the content he’s put out so far. When it comes to LinkedIn, you and I talk a lot about authenticity. I’m just curious, looking at some of these posts so far, do you have a view on that??

Casey: I don’t think Snoop Dogg sat down one day and decided to check out LinkedIn. I assume somebody from his team or an agency put this all together and pitched it like, “Hey this would be a fun thing. We can maybe reach a new audience there.” And then once you do that, it’s like, okay, how does Snoop Dogg show up on LinkedIn?

There are some videos that he’s obviously in, but I would not be surprised if he has any idea beyond one or two meetings he was in. I don’t think he’s approving each post or anything.

Joel: I would agree. For anyone reading this interview who doesn’t know, a lot of the content you see across social media is either entirely not written by the person posting, or at least thoroughly supported by their team. That’s probably the case for Snoop Dogg.?

No offense to his team, but I guess when I look at it it feels like a missed attempt or opportunity to do something cool and different and extend his brand in that way. I don’t know if you agree, but let’s say Snoop Dogg’s team came to you as a social media expert, where would you guide them with what to do on the platform??

Casey: That’s a great question. I think that I would probably be much more pragmatic about it, first trying to figure out what their goals are, what business opportunities and partnerships they have and are after. And I guess that’s probably a big reason they are here. I actually don’t think it’s a miss. Like, if he’s going to be here I kind of appreciate the way they’ve done it.?

Joel: What would you think if they did more original short-form video specifically for the LinkedIn audience, instead of replicating what he’s doing from other platforms? Would that feel more authentic or unique??

Casey: I think that would be better LinkedIn content. But I don’t think there’s a big need for him to think too much about that.?

Joel: Because he’s Snoop Dogg.?

Casey: Right. And I’m more interested in the fact that he is here, rather than wondering what Snoop Dogg actually thinks about, like, thought leadership and developing a personal brand. Not that he doesn’t have very interesting things to say about those things. Here’s a question for you: Who do you think he connects with on LinkedIn?

Joel: I have no idea, you? I mean, something tells me he probably doesn’t really.?

In terms of LinkedIn more broadly, I know you do a lot of work with executives and leaders on social media and communications. For someone at that level who doesn’t have the time to be spending on LinkedIn themselves, but is at the level they can bring in support like you, what are your thoughts on the balance between doing it themselves vs. outsourcing it?

Casey: I think it’ll be better if they do spend some time on it themselves, even if someone is supporting or managing it directly for them. I think it’s important to have an understanding of how it works as a communication platform, how to direct message people, and using it in a way that makes sense for them.

You know, I still use LinkedIn but I don’t actually post that often as of late. But it is still how I keep up with everyone in my professional network. Where they are, what’s going on. And that’s the kind of thing where even if you have someone supporting you, they won’t have the context of your connections, who is important to you, etc. So I think for people who want to be engaged here, it’s worth it to be on it, see what your friends are up to, engage authentically, etc. But you don’t have to be posting yourself. As an executive you can still be authentic if you have somebody else taking care of the logistics. You know, you want to get beyond just posting thought leadership links from the newsroom or whatever. But I definitely think it’s important for a leader to be engaged directly.

Joel: I think that's a really good insight. We’ve talked about this before, but I think some of the executives and leaders who do it best who I’ve chatted with have said that for them LinkedIn is as much of a broadcast tool as a learning tool. It’s also a messaging app. There are so many parts beyond just posting, and I don’t think everybody gets that. For Snoop Dogg, who knows??

You know, we chatted on my podcast a few months ago, and at that time we were talking about the death of Twitter/X and some of the newer entrants. Brian Morrissey , who writes the media newsletter The Rebooting, refers to LinkedIn as “the last good social network.” And as you know, for years I have thought LinkedIn was pretty underrated and in some ways undervalued. I’m actually surprised Microsoft hasn’t messed it up; in fact I think they have elevated it.?

Similar to how we started this conversation, how does LinkedIn fit into the overall landscape of social media right now??

Casey: A lot of people I’ve met socially are people I’ve met through work. Maybe this is a function of my demographic and age, but this is where I’m getting updates about the people I know and are in my life. It’s on LinkedIn. I know some people feel like LinkedIn is becoming too much like Facebook. But as far as just knowing what people are up to and being able to drop people a note, LinkedIn is as social for me as Instagram or anything else. I don’t go on Facebook at all, I go on Twitter/X to consume news, but I don’t really stay close to people there. I tried Threads for a couple weeks and then stopped. LinkedIn is really the only network that feels social to me right now.?

Joel: Yeah I agree. I also don’t ever see anything replacing LinkedIn for me. As long as it continues to be the world’s best Rolodex and network of people I’m connected to professionally, I just don’t see it ever not having utility in my life.?

Casey, I so appreciate you spending some time chatting Snoop Dogg and LinkedIn with me. Thanks for your time; I appreciate you!

Link Mix?

• The first excerpt of Walter Isaacson’s Musk bio is here, revealing the backstory on his Twitter takeover
• More on Snoop, Inc.: The Tao of Snoop Dogg?
• Today in financial crime charts: For every $1 the (US) federal government spends auditing the top 0.1% of earners, it makes back $6.?
• Peak podcast? Not quite.?
• The team and I are hard at work booking guests for Season 2 of Connection Request, my podcast about career journeys. Drop me a line or comment here if you have suggestions for guests!?
• Enjoyed this thoughtful chat (podcast) between Anna Sale and Ezra Klein
• 5 late night hosts teamed up to start a podcast benefitting their teams who aren’t working due to the writers strike. It’s a cool little gesture, but also is proving why they need their writers IMHO!?
• Why is LinkedIn so weird?

Shrug Diaries is a production of Shrug Content, a content and consulting studio based in Minnesota, operating globally. Our offerings include content & editorial strategy, podcast production, LinkedIn coaching, website development, and more. Shrug Content is also the producer of the podcasts Connection Request and Climate. Money. Work. Learn more at shrugcontent.com.