💼Why I'm Happy LinkedIn is the Middle-of-the-Road Social Media Service
Three cheers for aggressively inoffensive social media: The Neal Ungerleider Newsletter #81
Confession time: I spend too much time on LinkedIn.
Yes, that LinkedIn. The cinnamon-maple instant oatmeal of social media services: Not offensive, not especially interesting, not terrible, the we’ll-have-it-when-it’s-the-hotel-continental-breakfast-and-the-fruits-look-meh-and-they-don’t-have-the-flavor-of-yogurt-we-like of social networks. Exactly that LinkedIn.
(Image via Stoneham Press/GIPHY)
You see, I run my own business. And LinkedIn is very helpful when you run your own business.
Use LinkedIn right and you can find potential clients. You can find out when your contacts move on to new jobs at new companies (important!), network with people in your industry in the middle of a pandemic (important!!) and kinda sorta infer which companies will pay outside vendors to do which kinda projects for them (really important!!!).
That’s why I thought it was so interesting to see that:
1) LinkedIn is launching a creator program. Says LinkedIn News EIC Daniel Roth:
Creators are the lifeblood of LinkedIn. People who share their voice with the goal of building up the community — whether that's by creating original posts, stories, videos, articles, etc.; amplifying new people to follow; sharing news and links and explaining why they're worth your time; etc. — help us all see what's possible and what's coming.
2) LinkedIn is reportedly setting up a service for hiring freelancers that sounds somewhat in the Fiverr/Upwork space with everything from payments to project management handled inside LinkedIn. SearchEngine Journal’s Matt Southern says:
Work on LinkedIn Marketplaces is said to have begun in October 2019, which is when LinkedIn acquired assets of a startup called UpCounsel that connected freelance lawyers with businesses.
Former CEO of UpCounsel, Matt Faustman, is now leading the team responsible for developing Marketplaces.
The ol’ acqui-hire 1-2. Interesting! Especially since LinkedIn has operated Profinder, a search engine for hiring contractors, for several years.
(Image credit: LinkedIn)
So I have no idea what that means for ProFinder—my LinkedIn kremlinology is awful. That said, I’ve experimented with ProFinder before, and it’s been interesting. The majority of my encounters have been mom-and-pop businesses with limited budget and scopes. A pretty good place for freelancers and other vendors who are just starting out/looking to make a few dollars on the side, but not so much for other demographics.
With that said, LinkedIn is weird! While Twitter rewards hot takes and behind-the-scenes manipulation via swarming, bots, yadda yadda and Facebook rewards threadsitting and memeposting, LinkedIn rewards a very specific kind of white-collar worker performative behavior.
You know exactly what I’m talking about. LinkedIn LARPing. That earnest mix of posting about your employer’s latest human resources initiatives, thought leadership content that aggressively avoids any trace of controversy, weird inspirational memes and job updates.
Which is to say… a social media environment that’s far less stressful than Facebook or Twitter. Although there are exceptions (you’d be surprised how many people post astoundingly hateful political/cultural takes under their real name and with their employer’s name clearly listed!), LinkedIn aggressively rewards the middle-of-the-road and non-controversial.
The more I think about it, that might just be the smartest path for a social media service in 2021.
Best,
Neal
Things I’ve Enjoyed Lately:
The story of historic badass Anna Komnena.
Zeynep Tufekci on critical thinking and authoritarian muscle memory.
About This Newsletter: Neal Ungerleider is a strategic communications consultant who works with individuals, agencies and brands. He writes this weekly newsletter about the media communications industrial complex and hopes that you find it useful. Check out his bio, his portfolio, and current projects and interests.
Connect on Twitter or LinkedIn and learn more about at nealungerleider.com. To reach Neal, reply to this email or drop a line in the comments.