Even though LinkedIn has dumbed down the template for creating personal sites, we still write them because they help clients get work. This article by Lucinda Holdforth appeared in the Fairfax media last week and it’s so true.
“LinkedIn was a place where people put themselves forward as competent, sane and employable. Now it has turned to mutual backscratching, humblebragging, virtue signalling and a lot of nonsense.
The foot soldiers promoting the LinkedIn ideology are HR professionals in big corporates armed with psychology degrees, while modern HR language is 100 per cent Brene Brownian.
Brown is a self-deprecating American sociologist whose 2010 TED talk, “The Power of Vulnerability”, is one of the most watched ever.
Her influence is so extensive that your demonstrations of authenticity, vulnerability and, most of all, humility are all highly prized.
Well, until you are made redundant, when you will be reminded by your HR person of your obligations under your company’s Draconian confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements as they push you out the door.
In this Panglossian world, small Chekhovian tragedies unfold. Amanda, for example, posts one evening that she is so grateful for the wonderful journey she has had with company X.
She’s a little nervous about what lies ahead but really excited too. She doesn’t say she has been made redundant, but she doesn’t need to because everyone knows company X has just sacked 10,000 people after its poor results.
“Excited about the journey,” she says, which really means, “Rather nervous about what may happen next.”
Amanda then gets 15 likes, plus three comments wishing her “Good Luck” and “All the Best” and “Exciting Times!” She replies that she is really humbled by all the support she is getting and is looking forward to the next stage in her journey.’
Not long after this, Amanda’s tone changes: “I’m not going to lie, it’s been a tough time. I’ve been shortlisted for a few roles but haven’t got them. I’ve been struggling, but I know if I stay positive things will work out. Everything happens for a reason.”
Amanda gets 10 likes and another trio of comments: “Stay Strong” and “Love your honesty”.
Soon after, Amanda is both proud and humbled to announce she has found her dream job with a mid-tier financial services firm as a transformation and change specialist.
She is excited because she really admires this firm’s passion for inclusivity and diversity and celebrating everyone’s unique talents.
There are many Amandas on LinkedIn, and while they may or may not be literate, or good at their jobs, they have mastered the language of modern neoliberal virtue, as they faithfully serve the propaganda needs of the virtuous corporation.
Today corporations make sweeping moral claims, with mission statements of breathtaking overreach. LinkedIn is where capitalism masquerades as a series of noble causes, where the modern virtues can be and are being co-opted to advance the neoliberal agenda.
LinkedIn’s disguising of the corporate world’s lack of virtue is helped by a convenient matter of etiquette: it is considered poor form to include “political” discourse on the platform.
This rule is taken so seriously that it is regarded as a faux pas to have any form of morality at all.
One individual with a background in corporate relations posted with pride on LinkedIn that they were heading overseas to a senior role in the national tourism promotion body of a nation with one of the world’s worst recent human rights records.
No matter. Hundreds of former colleagues and contacts rushed to praise this move.
It was all “Congratulations” and “A new adventure!” and “They are lucky to have you!”
One commentator gently hinted at an uncomfortable truth: would not this role inevitably involve glossing up the image of a nation with a terrible human rights record?
Undeterred, the person sent a cheery reply: “But things are changing and the place is opening up!”
Right then.