Glad you’re back, Benn! I work completely remote and have a mundane life but after reading your piece I’m pursuing my new dream of becoming a SQL influencer. Thanks for the inspiration!
One positive things for me is that LinkedIn has been a useful tool to meet new people. People that I talk to and then quickly start communicating with not on LinkedIn. It’s kind of the same weird dynamic as a dating app (I would imagine - although thankfully haven’t had to used one). The app wants you to stay in the ecosystem - but the best experience is to be had outside of the ecosystem.
I think the overall LI benefit for me is greater than for some since I don’t live in a major metropolitan area and can use LI as a tool to meet people I wouldn’t normally meet.
Also - there is a lot of social pressure to have a decent LinkedIn profile nowadays. I think they are clearly status symbols in a way - and not in a positive way.
Yeah, it really feels similar to conferences to me. There is real value to it, and you really can meet people in meaningful ways in both places. But it's not really the default, because most people feel a need to put on a kind of polished and impersonal corporate costume at both.
Yup - I think that's a good analogy. And just like a conference if you just show up and “do the default” conference thing you wont get to anything real. Actually it would be extremely fascinating to have a professional social network that isnt Linkedin that people actually use… and what could it provide that would compel people to actually use it.
Like, what would happen if you started LinkedIn as a social network, rather than as a resume site? And tried to build it entirely around the social network part from the beginning?
This is all painfully true. From the people who assiduously post documents about Azure and SQL I really learned things on LinkedIn but it is soothing because it is entirely work related and I will not hear lies about the Middle East conflict just by logging in.
We already live inside "The Truman-atrix", a combination of "The Truman Show" movie and "The Matrix" movie. I'm Morpheus, trying to give you some clues. But here is a story, to illustrate better: https://www.writepharmaparablepublishing.com/p/the-parable-of-the-monkey-man and if you imagine Ed Harris as the lead monkey character, perhaps it will make more sense. :-)
Glad you’re back, Benn! I work completely remote and have a mundane life but after reading your piece I’m pursuing my new dream of becoming a SQL influencer. Thanks for the inspiration!
Oh god, oh no, I'm so sorry.
Great smart intro that escalates to "LinkedIn"! Exactly my feelings.
you’re right, this Griff album is hitting
Time to shut down this blog, my work here is done.
One positive things for me is that LinkedIn has been a useful tool to meet new people. People that I talk to and then quickly start communicating with not on LinkedIn. It’s kind of the same weird dynamic as a dating app (I would imagine - although thankfully haven’t had to used one). The app wants you to stay in the ecosystem - but the best experience is to be had outside of the ecosystem.
I think the overall LI benefit for me is greater than for some since I don’t live in a major metropolitan area and can use LI as a tool to meet people I wouldn’t normally meet.
Also - there is a lot of social pressure to have a decent LinkedIn profile nowadays. I think they are clearly status symbols in a way - and not in a positive way.
Yeah, it really feels similar to conferences to me. There is real value to it, and you really can meet people in meaningful ways in both places. But it's not really the default, because most people feel a need to put on a kind of polished and impersonal corporate costume at both.
Yup - I think that's a good analogy. And just like a conference if you just show up and “do the default” conference thing you wont get to anything real. Actually it would be extremely fascinating to have a professional social network that isnt Linkedin that people actually use… and what could it provide that would compel people to actually use it.
Like, what would happen if you started LinkedIn as a social network, rather than as a resume site? And tried to build it entirely around the social network part from the beginning?
Yup.
Brutal 😂
This is all painfully true. From the people who assiduously post documents about Azure and SQL I really learned things on LinkedIn but it is soothing because it is entirely work related and I will not hear lies about the Middle East conflict just by logging in.
And I learned that data engineering is its own separate thing and some of the things these people do every day.
Saw this https://x.com/michaelsayman/status/1835841675584811239 and thought of your post!
We already live inside "The Truman-atrix", a combination of "The Truman Show" movie and "The Matrix" movie. I'm Morpheus, trying to give you some clues. But here is a story, to illustrate better: https://www.writepharmaparablepublishing.com/p/the-parable-of-the-monkey-man and if you imagine Ed Harris as the lead monkey character, perhaps it will make more sense. :-)
If you need official, professional, credentials, to prove all that I am saying is true, here is my linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theredpilloftruth/ :-) :-)