Hibernating LinkedIn
I don’t know about you but I have this love hate relationship with social media. I’ve written in the past about how I was over it. https://websam.nz/i-think-i-am-over-social-media/
I’ve also spoken about how i was using Facebook less, but still managing some pages. https://websam.nz/how-to-use-facebook-less-and-still-manage-facebook-pages/
And I talked about how deleting facebook off of my phone made me happier here https://websam.nz/deleted-facebook-phone-couldnt-happier/
How are you Using Them?
So every now and then I start thinking about how I am using these social networks and if they are any use to me.
I used to be a heavyish user of Twitter. That’s how Twitter Secret Santa started. I got a lot of followers on there, just because of that.
Then one day, I didn’t want to be on it. So I deleted all my posts, every single one of them.
When I made the Skinny TV ad, I posted it there, just because I thought it was cool I was in an ad, and it seemed like a good place to post it to.
A couple of people, random people that followed me because of the Secret Santa stuff didn’t like that. And I wondered what the point of it is.
So I have this account with no posts, and lots of people following it. And I don’t want to post there. This leads me to the next thing I’ve changed.
I know a lot of people that don’t use LinkedIn. I know some people that seem to use it a lot, but maybe not for the intended purpose.
It’s mainly for people connecting with others if you are looking for work, I think?
But it now seems to be platform for an endless circle jerk of recycled content. Or maybe I’m missing the point. I’ve been on there for ages, I went through and changed my profile to make it more appealing, with lots of info and stuff.
Apparently it gets a bunch of views each month. According to the email updates they keep sending me. I guess that’s nice.
Have I used LinkedIn to find a job? No. Would I use it in the future? Maybe.
The thing is, the skills that I do have, are random. The few qualifications I do have are for a type of work I don’t want to do every again, so just how useful is it? I’m not sure.
But what I do know is when I log in after an extended period away, I have lots of notifications, about stuff I don’t care about. With posts that I also don’t care about.
It seems to be a replacement for Facebook for some people.
Unfollowing people is an option, or maybe just deleting the whole thing. That’s what I got to the other day.
Then I learned you can hibernate your account.
Which basically removes you from LinkedIn, but keeps everything intact if you need or want to go back to it. So that’s what I’ve done. No more email updated or notifications.
And if I ever need it, I can turn it back on for it’s intended purpose or connecting and finding work, instead of being some weird Facebook clone.
Do you like LinkedIn? Do you even use it? Or has your use changed over the years? I’d love to hear your take on it, let me know by leaving a comment below.
