I’m going to put all my cards on the table and say I like Linkedin. Linkedin is my first choice for mockery because I know it well, which means I can relate to the things that many people find off-putting. I’ll start by saying it’s a solid platform because it can easily justify its existence. It has a niche that it has more or less stuck to fairly well. Do one thing and do it well is a lesson other social media platforms dismiss (I’m looking at you Facebook).

Well, guys thanks for reading…Oh wait! There’s a but here.

The biggest ‘but’ is Linkedin’s email problem

The emails are the main reason I wanted to make this video. Years ago, I created an account and was truthfully pushed to delete it because I was overwhelmed by the spam, and I couldn’t stop it. Funny thing is (and I use that word loosely) that deleting my account didn’t make the emails stop. Instead I would get (and still get to this day) connection requests for an account that doesn’t exist. How? How is that possible? I get reminders. “Hey, you still haven’t determined whether you’re going to give so and so a rose or not” (sorry, bachelor reference). But there’s nothing I can do.

Cut to 2015 and Linkedin agrees to settle in the unwanted email case and do better. They send an apology…in an EMAIL! And I eventually acquiesce and create a new account. I knew I could rest easy, not because of the settlement but because at this point, gmail had gotten smart enough to automatically funnel most Linkedin emails into the social tab we never look at. I still get plenty of Linkedin emails. I just never see the spammy ones.

Linkedin App Taking a Page from Facebook

And I know this is honest websites, but let’s talk about the app for just a sec. Their main app pushes their job search app. Linkedin, please. I can remember that you have an app specifically for searching jobs after the first time you notified me. I don’t need reminders.

I also get these weird notifications that look like connection requests, but are merely Linkedin’s way of tricking me to connect with people I may know. If I want to connect with someone, I will go out of my way to find that person. I also also get notifications about what I missed while I was away. Unless I’m looking for a job, I don’t need to be pursuing their app/site on a daily basis.

The dual app, pushy notifications, et cetera are some examples of Linkedin taking from Facebook’s playbook. But it’s a good thing they’re not Facebook. Right? I see some very Russian trolly articles now on their feed. We’re seeing how the youngest generation is using Facebook less. Broadening its scope to compete with Facebook won’t stave off irrelevance.

I can see professional networking sites going the way of dating apps, where really specific ones take off, like ones that cater to a specific trade/profession. We’re already in our own little social bubbles. The same trend appears to be gaining steam in our professional circles. Working for small businesses, I’ll have to join four or five of these platforms because I wear multiple shoes, shoes because I look terrible in hats. So get your blank together Linkedin because I don’t have the energy to sift through 4-5 times the amount of emails I currently get.