What’s happened to LinkedIn?

The business-centric social media network is being co-opted by angry mobs.

Much of the attention on the troubles with social media has been focused on Twitter and Facebook thanks to the propagation of “fake news” and purposeful disinformation seeded by nefarious individuals, organizations and state-sponsored digital “terrorists.”

Real evidence points to Russia having had a hand in manipulating the 2016 US Presidential election and the Brexit vote — Twitter and Facebook having been leveraged to seed and promote untruths in order to mobilize voters to take specific action. Based on reports from US law enforcement agencies , it appears the Russians achieved their destabilizing objectives.

LinkedIn for the most part has seemed a safe zone. But that appears to be changing rapidly.

I was an early adopter of the platform and have found it of value in my efforts to continue to build my professional network, stay connected to former colleagues, and to learn and share by joining relevant industry groups on the platform.

Recently, I have been surprised at how many professionals have been using LinkedIn to share their personal views and in particular, promoting and commenting on polarizing political topics and issues.

As a self-employed professional, I have the freedom to say what I want because ultimately, my company brand is linked to my personal brand. That said, I have navigated LinkedIn knowing that I need to respect the basis of the platform’s “raison d’être” and that my personal views outside of business affairs should be set aside for Twitter or Facebook — where I have both personal and professional profiles.

This week, a peer in my LinkedIn network commented on an article from the Buffalo Chronicle posted by someone in his network. The article made unsubstantiated accusations that a Canadian Government minister had “instructed Google News to limit Canadian access to foreign press” and by implication, that Google had complied.

The person who posted the article on LinkedIn, positioned this article as further proof of the corruptness of the Trudeau Liberal government stating: “First, the liberals bribed the media, and then they threatened them. Of great irony is that the Democratic Institutions Minister did the threatening. This totalitarian regime needs to go.”

Her post started an avalanche of comments on LinkedIn with nearly 100 likes and 96 comments. The majority of the comments were in support of the premise of the article and that this “news” further confirmed why the current Canadian administration were “Nazis, criminals, immoral, should be tried for treason, sent to jail” and more. This also included many personal attacks on the Prime Minister as someone to be vilified for his hairstyle, low IQ or other trivial “feelings” of dislike for him as a person.

I was surprised at how “freely” most commenters shared their personal biases on LinkedIn given that at the end of the day, this platform is their online resume and in my opinion, reflects directly on the organization or brand they represent.

My participation and comments around this post was focused on reminding people that LinkedIn was intended for professional networking and also to encourage everyone to check the source of the article for themselves to see if it had any merit before adding fuel to the fire.

I also made the point that professionals should be able to have civilized discourse around differences of opinions on government policy for example especially if such policy had business implications. My comments only seemed to fuel more name calling and personal attacks on my character and intelligence. So much for the possibility of doing business together.

Why would seemingly smart professionals not do their homework before putting their professional brands at risk? Part of it is laziness (which doesn’t bode well from a business stand point) but more to the point, the “false” posts are providing them with perceived “cover” to vent their true feelings and biased perspectives.

It only took me a few minutes to dig a little deeper to find information that discredits the Buffalo Chronicle as a none credible source for news. Canadaland, a respected Canadian news site and podcast network, investigated the Buffalo Chronicle and published an article on March 18, 2019 that called out the afore mentioned Google related story and its publisher as “not a reliable source for news.” News1130 published a podcast on March 22, 2019 titled; “How Canada flunked its first big fake news test”, that further discredits the Buffalo Chronicle.

The article describes how many well-known Canadians (former politicians, strategists, business leaders and media influencers) who regularly and publicly voice their anti-Trudeau sentiments to their audiences, went on to share the Buffalo Chronicle article across their social networks — with an apparent total disregard for the facts. Exactly what happened with the story posted to LinkedIn.

So, what’s changed on LinkedIn ?

Part of the answer comes down to poor examples of professional leadership. The Donald Trump effect is real. As a business person that has ascended to the most powerful job in the world, Donald Trump has demonstrated that making up stories and repeating them across all media channels can work. It’s a terrible example to follow but unfortunately, it seems that some people have decided to take his lead. There are liars across the political spectrum, but Trump has definitely distinguished himself in that department.

We are in new era. For some, if the lie or misinformation serves their purpose — supports and reinforces the views and biases they and their audiences ascribe to, then so be it. The objective to “win at all cost” is more important than the truth.

Yes. This is a dangerous and slippery slope for any democracy.

It’s not LinkedIn that has changed but the change of mindset of some of the people who use it . They are apparently so angry at the “other” that they will risk harming their professional brand, alienating potential partners, employers or valued peers in their digital network in order to make the case for their grievances. Anger is a powerful drug and motivator.

I expect the pushback to the negative discourse that has infiltrated LinkedIn will increase until we reach some kind of tipping point. LinkedIn will need to step in at some point to protect the core value of its platform — as a useful business application that delivers real utility to business people and organizations. Will LinkedIn be proactive to make the changes required or will they wait until they are dragged in front of government officials to answer the tough questions? Time will tell.

In the meantime, we can all do something to try to turn the tide.

Be respectful of “others” on LinkedIn and use your intellectual honesty to guide what you say or share on the platform. You will be doing yourself and your network a positive service. And if you want to share your biased “feelings” go to Twitter and Facebook. Your audience is waiting to agree with you.

Updated: This article was updated March 22, 2019 to reference the News1130 podcast, “How Canada flunked its first big fake news test”.

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Stephen Dorsey is a sr. brand, marketing and omni-channel digital strategist and an award-winning creative producer with 25 years of professional experience. He is the principal of Toronto-based Dorsey Studios, a management consulting firm and creative agency that has engaged with Fortune 1000 organizations in Canada, the U.S., Europe, Australia, South America and the Caribbean.

Stephen is a also an instructor at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies where he is currently teaching the “Omni-Channel Content Marketing” course.

He is a recognized thought leader in the digital-out-of-home space with specialized expertise on how to leverage innovative digital platforms and applications to engage consumers at-retail.