How You’re Ruining Your Brand on LinkedIn

I am beyond over the lack of LinkedIn etiquette in my community, you guys! I log in every day to interact with my LinkedIn community and it never fails that I see content that should not be on the site. LinkedIn is supposed to be a place for professionals to network with other individuals in their field. It is absolutely annoying when there is  Facebook-esque content on a site where professionalism is the key.

I don’t think people understand how you can ruin your brand by misusing LinkedIn. I have been posting so many blog posts about LinkedIn because it is a crucial site for your career success. With that being said, the things you post and share on LinkedIn greatly impact your brand.

Some things I see every day on my LinkedIn feed are Youtube videos that have nothing to do with anything professional. I also see a lot of posts pertaining to political viewpoints as well as social issue rants. These just aren’t appropriate topics to share and discuss on LinkedIn. You wouldn’t go into a job interview talking about how much you dislike Trump, so why upload those things to LinkedIn for your work community to see?

Aside from uploading personal information, another annoying way that people are ruining their brand through LinkedIn is by flirting through the private messages. Don’t hit on me on LinkedIn please! That is beyond annoying. I’m not a fan of workplace romance in the first place, so taking it to LinkedIn of all places is a definite no-no. Social sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are more appropriate for personal conversations.

The majority of us are not in the job that we plan to have until we retire. That means that you have to work on your brand each and every day, so that you can land the next promotion or build your network so that you can relocate somewhere else and keep advancing. You’re only stunting your professional growth when you use LinkedIn for the wrong reasons. Stop posting content that isn’t directly helping your community and building your brand. Your career will thank you for it.