Is LinkedIn The Worst Social Media Platform?

Well, that was the initial plan. At this moment in time do you really know what mixed bag of emotional/inspirational/flexing drivel you are going to be unloaded with?!

One moment a college student is holding a press conference thanking her parents and Jesus for passing an exam, the next is some BS CEO talking about hiring a dog for their head of sales, because, disruption or something?

And you and I don’t even have the time to talk about the sleazy DM’s from creepy weirdos that land in your inbox if you happen to be a woman.

Sad Grandad Meme

However, the single worst new trend on LinkedIn is the latest one doing the rounds exploiting the elderly for social klout.

God knows the elderly have endured enough shite in the real world, but it seems now is the time to use their suffering for online engagement, on what is meant to be a professional job seeking website.

This week this post cropped up on a number of different people’s profiles:

This is not the original post, but a quick search for “grandad pints” on LinkedIn will get you a ton of posts with the exact same text and picture.

Firstly, do people on LinkedIn not know about plagiarism? We are meant to be the professionals here. At least credit your source rather than blatantly steal someone else’s work.

Secondly, if you want to be nice to an auld lad, you can be so without posting it on social media. You undermine your generosity and charity when you say, “Hey, this would actually work really well online!” and this is meant to be LinkedIn?

Does a retired 79 year old man want or need to go viral on LinkedIn? Will your gutter cleaning business drastically improve with a viral post of a pint? Is that what a potential client is looking for?

“Damn, my gutters are blocked and the house is in bits. If only there was a company who bought pints for auld lads alone at a bar that could help solve my problem?!”.

When did the Karens of Facebook migrate over to LinkedIn to start posting their lost dog/sick kid/sad grandad posts?

LinkedIn’s Purpose

LinkedIn just needs to answer this question: Do you have a job for me with slightly better pay and conditions, that starts immediately so I can swap this hell hole of a under resourced, overworked slave role with something less exhausting and humiliating?! 

A simple yes or no is all you need.