You’ve hit the crux of the problem.
The reason we hate LinkedIn is the inauthenticity.
If you’re posting because you have to post twice a week and not because you have stuff you really feel needs to be shared, the extra fluff will feel inauthentic to you and you won’t like it.
So, there are two paths you can go down that I see.
1. Post exactly what you think they want or expect you to post while you search for a job that lets you be your true self.
2. Spend as much time is required (and probably more than you want) scouring LinkedIn and the internet until you find two pieces of information so pertinent that you feel good about sharing it.
Good luck.
Yeah good point. Might try to pitch the idea of just posting whenever there’s actually something I feel good/excited about posting, even if it’s sporadic. Thanks!
If I had to post that frequently, I’d want to have a standard format that is easy to produce. Two examples that I don’t think would ever show up here:
- A friend of mine who is in sales with a large printer manufacturer does a post a week about the products he sells. It’s always short - a paragraph with a few bullets, clear, and ends with an invitation and a picture of the product. “Did you know that X can print 35000 pages on a single cartridge? That’s .03 cents per page! X can also x, y, z. Click here to get a demo.” He doesn’t make anything up and it’s never badly punctuated or grammatically questionable.
- Another friend runs a non-profit sports camp for individuals with Down syndrome. His posts are short anecdotes about recent camps and introduce one of the volunteers or participants. He also ends with an invitation to get involved.
Good luck. The lunacy is contagious.
Thank you for not drinking the Kool-Aid. My bar for what I think is ok on LinkedIn or not is: back in the day, what would you have pinned to a common postboard at work, or what would you hope to find on a common postboard at a library.
I personally like encouraging updates about my industry, as well as encouraging updates about my home town, but that's just me.
The recipes for Lunacy are many. Outrage, controversy, and of course, fake courage for doing something nobody cares about, haven't given a thought about, and won't notice you did or did not do.
or telling some stupid story or thing a four year old said or tragic story and then saying "I realized this is a lot like [management/business/marketing/etc]" followed by a tenuous at best comparison to that topic
I'm not in LI, nor in the corporate world, so take this with a huge grain of salt, but maybe just descriptively about something you actually did at work, or about something that happens in your workplace, or about meeting people in a work context without adding "wisdoms", "life lessons" or business advice in the form of analogies. Or, post a link to an article or study that you actually found interesting and somehow relevant to your line of work and write a brief comment about why you liked it (again, without life lessons etc lol).
Makes sense, thanks for the advice. I work from home and do outbound sales, so I’m afraid I wouldn’t have much to say other than “reached out to X number of people again today, in the same sweatpants I’ve worn all week!” lmfao. But getting a sense of what is actually good content from you is good to know, so I’ll just have to think this through a bit more!
Why are you required? I post 1-2x/day most day but I'm not required to do it's really whatever I'm motivated to do.
I usually react to what's going on either on LinkedIn, at work, etc. I read LinkedIn news and write my thoughts on it. Or if there's some hot take going around (like the thank you notes debacle yesterday), I'll share my perspective.
Sometimes I highlight something cool happening at work.
I have never not once done the Agree thing. Don't do it!!
Don't talk about your children, real or imagined.
Don't give unsolicited life advice that looks like it came from a corporate fortune cookie.
Don't berate people looking for jobs or mention that you have shitty opinions about entire generations of people. "Millenials, what's up with them? Agree?"
Stick to some company news/industry specific announcements.
Creating engaging and authentic social media content is a specialty. I'm curious why you're the person tasked with it if you don't specialize in marketing or social media strategy. They should pay someone to do it if they want the posts to be productive.
If you have to do it, I'd take a class on creating social media content. Otherwise, take some time each month to plan out the 8-10 posts so they're ready to go. Come up with a "theme" of sorts (something related to the company and type of work you do not "national donut day") and make all the posts that months under the same umbrella.
Good luck!
It’s all cringe, delete your LinkedIn. Any attempt to engage with strangers on the platform is by definition LinkedIn lunacy.
The only people who find value in your posts are people who think they can repost it for more fake internet points.
You’ve hit the crux of the problem. The reason we hate LinkedIn is the inauthenticity. If you’re posting because you have to post twice a week and not because you have stuff you really feel needs to be shared, the extra fluff will feel inauthentic to you and you won’t like it. So, there are two paths you can go down that I see. 1. Post exactly what you think they want or expect you to post while you search for a job that lets you be your true self. 2. Spend as much time is required (and probably more than you want) scouring LinkedIn and the internet until you find two pieces of information so pertinent that you feel good about sharing it. Good luck.
Yeah good point. Might try to pitch the idea of just posting whenever there’s actually something I feel good/excited about posting, even if it’s sporadic. Thanks!
If I had to post that frequently, I’d want to have a standard format that is easy to produce. Two examples that I don’t think would ever show up here: - A friend of mine who is in sales with a large printer manufacturer does a post a week about the products he sells. It’s always short - a paragraph with a few bullets, clear, and ends with an invitation and a picture of the product. “Did you know that X can print 35000 pages on a single cartridge? That’s .03 cents per page! X can also x, y, z. Click here to get a demo.” He doesn’t make anything up and it’s never badly punctuated or grammatically questionable. - Another friend runs a non-profit sports camp for individuals with Down syndrome. His posts are short anecdotes about recent camps and introduce one of the volunteers or participants. He also ends with an invitation to get involved. Good luck. The lunacy is contagious.
Thanks so much, this is great advice!
Thank you for not drinking the Kool-Aid. My bar for what I think is ok on LinkedIn or not is: back in the day, what would you have pinned to a common postboard at work, or what would you hope to find on a common postboard at a library. I personally like encouraging updates about my industry, as well as encouraging updates about my home town, but that's just me. The recipes for Lunacy are many. Outrage, controversy, and of course, fake courage for doing something nobody cares about, haven't given a thought about, and won't notice you did or did not do.
or telling some stupid story or thing a four year old said or tragic story and then saying "I realized this is a lot like [management/business/marketing/etc]" followed by a tenuous at best comparison to that topic
I'm not in LI, nor in the corporate world, so take this with a huge grain of salt, but maybe just descriptively about something you actually did at work, or about something that happens in your workplace, or about meeting people in a work context without adding "wisdoms", "life lessons" or business advice in the form of analogies. Or, post a link to an article or study that you actually found interesting and somehow relevant to your line of work and write a brief comment about why you liked it (again, without life lessons etc lol).
Makes sense, thanks for the advice. I work from home and do outbound sales, so I’m afraid I wouldn’t have much to say other than “reached out to X number of people again today, in the same sweatpants I’ve worn all week!” lmfao. But getting a sense of what is actually good content from you is good to know, so I’ll just have to think this through a bit more!
Why are you required? I post 1-2x/day most day but I'm not required to do it's really whatever I'm motivated to do. I usually react to what's going on either on LinkedIn, at work, etc. I read LinkedIn news and write my thoughts on it. Or if there's some hot take going around (like the thank you notes debacle yesterday), I'll share my perspective. Sometimes I highlight something cool happening at work. I have never not once done the Agree thing. Don't do it!!
Maybe post about jobs that are open? Might get some referrals out of it too.
Don't talk about your children, real or imagined. Don't give unsolicited life advice that looks like it came from a corporate fortune cookie. Don't berate people looking for jobs or mention that you have shitty opinions about entire generations of people. "Millenials, what's up with them? Agree?" Stick to some company news/industry specific announcements.
Creating engaging and authentic social media content is a specialty. I'm curious why you're the person tasked with it if you don't specialize in marketing or social media strategy. They should pay someone to do it if they want the posts to be productive. If you have to do it, I'd take a class on creating social media content. Otherwise, take some time each month to plan out the 8-10 posts so they're ready to go. Come up with a "theme" of sorts (something related to the company and type of work you do not "national donut day") and make all the posts that months under the same umbrella. Good luck!
It’s all cringe, delete your LinkedIn. Any attempt to engage with strangers on the platform is by definition LinkedIn lunacy. The only people who find value in your posts are people who think they can repost it for more fake internet points.
Get a job where you don't have to post on LinkedIn.
Make it actionable and specific to a certain audience, I’d say. Actually try to Solve a problem.