Should You Use LinkedIn as a PhD Student?
From the helpful to the cringe-worthy
It’s common knowledge that LinkedIn can help you get messages from prospective employers and ultimately find a job. While this is less common in academia, many academic jobs are also posted there. But what are the pros and cons of engaging with the LinkedIn feed and profile as somebody working in academia — like a PhD student? In this blog post, I first address how LinkedIn can help and then how it can harm you.
Please note that I’m not paid to write this. I simply hope that my experience and reflections can be valuable to others.
How LinkedIn Can Help You
Tracking down people and papers
Many fascinating scientific articles I’ve read for my dissertation were shared on LinkedIn, either by one of my connections or theirs. LinkedIn is also a platform for people outside academia (…breaking news…). So, if you’re willing to get in touch with employees of companies, representatives of NGOs or politicians, here’s your platform.
For those less familiar with LinkedIn: You can follow other people by going to their profiles — meaning you will see their posts, but not vice versa. Alternatively, you can ask them to connect, which is the equivalent of a Facebook friend where both parties see each other’s content. Following could be the better option when the other person is much more senior or has hundreds of connections already.
Spreading your digital wings
Sharing your research articles or blog posts on LinkedIn can significantly expand your readership, allowing you to connect with a broader audience. This increased visibility offers the opportunity for your work to spark interest among people who may not typically engage with academic content. Isn’t it every researcher’s hope, after all, to connect with the ominous ‘public’?
LinkedIn posts can also benefit people with less experience in academia. For example, when I shared a Medium post about applying for PhD positions on LinkedIn, several people reached out to thank me. After all, there’s a lot of informal knowledge about navigating the academic system that takes time to learn.
“Most of you won’t read the whole paper, I know”
You could ask a generative AI like ChatGPT what a research paper is about, or read it yourself (I recommend both). There’s yet another smart way to extract the most important information: Read a LinkedIn post where the author(s) summarize(s) it. Sharing key findings used to be a thing on X when it was still called Twitter, but my observation as an ex-X user is that people have moved to LinkedIn. Consider this a service that scholars provide so you know what they see as its quintessence, or main message.
“Let’s stay in touch!”
Networking: It’s one of those academic buzzwords that make some people wish they could dig a hole and hide there. It may sound like you approach people with an agenda in mind, but in my experience, all academics network in one way or the other. Whether in the lunch room, at a conference or a doctoral course, you meet fellow researchers, have a chat and hopefully a good time — or look for an escape route, which is highly linked to your level of introversion.
LinkedIn allows you to extend these acquaintances in time and space, and have the opportunity to reach out again. While you could also write an email, a message on LinkedIn can feel more low-key. You could even initiate your first contact with a fellow researcher or PhD student on the platform — if they seem to be active users.
How did you get here?
It has never been easier to retrace the career path of an academic. Sure, profiles of scholars on university websites usually include information about where they studied and worked in the past, but you can use LinkedIn as a cross-reference, and all profiles are conveniently formatted the same. Analyzing people’s past employments and experiences helped me understand how I might be able to get a PhD position. I began to observe patterns: Many have done two master’s, many have done their graduate studies and PhD at the same university, etc.
Something to remember, be it on LinkedIn or not: Biographies are always embellished. Somebody who studied biology for a year and then dropped out might still include “biology studies” in their CV. Just beware of this when the imposter syndrome kicks in and you feel like a complete failure.
“Look what I found!”
My friends and family members frequently get links to podcast episodes, YouTube videos and articles from me. LinkedIn allows you to annoy even more people with the things you find super cool — just kidding. You can hopefully reach more people who really think this stuff is super cool.
On LinkedIn, I sometimes share blog posts, news articles or research papers of other authors and add thoughts about what sparked my interest — often by starting with a question. It feels good to boost other people’s work while attracting more people to your own profile — and I honestly enjoy it! While you may argue that researchers should concentrate on research instead of (self-)marketing, I’d say we live in times of the neoliberal university, where publications and contacts with fellow academics are vital.
Female, male or non-binary?
Picture this: You read the research paper of a French scholar whose first name is Camille. You assume it’s a woman and quote her in your writing, but careful! Had you done some background research, you would have probably realized that this name is used for both genders. In the best case, your Camille has a LinkedIn profile with their personal pronouns added behind their name. Mystery solved! It’s easier to have LinkedIn for this than scrolling through people’s university profiles or looking for newspaper articles that state “Camille is an assistant professor. He…” Bingo!
How LinkedIn Can Harm (or Annoy) You
And there goes your time.
You just wanted to google a research paper — and suddenly find yourself scrolling through your LinkedIn feed. Oh well, it happens to the best of us, be it on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook or TikTok. Writing a post or comment obviously takes time too.
LinkedIn is a time thief like any other social network. The algorithm keeps showing you new material, so you’ll never open your feed and have nothing new to discover. I recommend limiting your LinkedIn time to a phase during the day where you tend to be least productive — like the late afternoon. You can also limit whether or how long your feed is displayed by using an extension like the ‘News Feed Eradicator’. On my work laptop, I have hidden the news feed of my Facebook page and can click on the extension if I want it to be shown for 5 or 10 minutes, or forever.
“I’m excited to announce that I…”
All active LinkedIn users know the generic formulations most people use when posting about a new job, a newly published paper or a completed training. It’s usually something like “I’m excited to announce” or “I’m happy to share”. And it’s repetitive, to say the least. When it’s a friend or colleague, you might be happy for them anyway. When it’s a random dude who added you on LinkedIn, you probably care less. Plus, is he even really excited about this certificate in software you’ve never heard about, or is he actually glad it’s over?!
My advice: If you want to do self-promotion (which LinkedIn is predestined for), make it a bit fun. Start with a joke, a funny picture, a question, a story, an ironic statement about how generic this post will be, or a quote. Your LinkedIn connections and followers will thank you.
Secondhand embarrassment
Some of my colleagues and friends have just one thing to say about LinkedIn: How cringe-worthy! When focusing on the many generic, repetitive LinkedIn posts, you probably agree. Besides sheer self-promotion, a popular trope is the “failed but eventually succeeded” story. But hey: you can use LinkedIn in many ways, and don’t have to engage with everything. Sometimes, LinkedIn posts can simply make you laugh about people’s in-the-face self-promotion. Consider it free entertainment.
“Hi there, Annika!”
Occasionally, LinkedIn employees will reach out via private message to persuade you that the Premium version is exactly what you need in your life. You doubt it, but the more these messages accumulate, the more you might consider it. Stay strong! (Unless you like knowing who visited your profile, and want to connect with 100 new people a week.)
What’s new?
LinkedIn imperative number one: Keep your profile up-to-date. People may google you and click on your LinkedIn profile to see your current position. When your last employment dates back to 2017, that either begs questions about the long gap in your CV, or your willingness to engage with LinkedIn (understandably so. Not everybody likes social media). In either case, creating a LinkedIn profile comes with the implicit duty to keep it updated to a minimum — meaning you should include your current job title and most recent employment. Be ready for the time and headspace.
Thanks for sharing your data with LinkedIn!
This should come as no surprise, but an obvious downside of today’s social media platforms is that whenever they’re free to use, it means your data is likely the product that is being sold. Everything you put on LinkedIn, from your education to your posts, can be used to improve the algorithm, modify the interface, etc. And, once something is on the internet, it’s not easily forgotten. In Sweden where your address is online for everybody to see (unless you made efforts to have it hidden), data protection is not people’s biggest concern. If you live in another part of the world, you may want to give a second thought to data privacy.
‘Too many’ opinions
Although LinkedIn brands itself as a ‘professional’ social network, it’s still about you as a person, a researcher, and ultimately your brand if we want to use marketing terms. Making your posts personal seems to help a lot with getting reactions.
Sharing your opinions publicly may not only be a matter of interest to other researchers. It can also lead to (future) research participants knowing many things about you. This is a risk to keep in mind.
University teachers and scholars are…humans.
Having an online presence takes away from the mystery of the ‘anonymous academic’, sitting in their ivory tower (aka home office or university corridor) and producing academic knowledge to benefit the world in an Einsteinian manner. I sometimes wish I were more anonymous and mysterious to the outside world, but having Medium and LinkedIn means this ship has sailed. So, people quickly realize that I’m just human.
Admittedly, there are generational differences: Younger researchers tend to be more present on social media and share things about other areas of life, like a side hustle or hobby. Plus, media and communication scholars like me are much more inclined to be on LinkedIn than, say, sociologists or archeologists. It’s also a question of personal taste.
I hope this post helped you understand the pros and cons of giving LinkedIn a chance, so you can answer the question from the title for yourself. Are there other features you use on LinkedIn that I haven’t mentioned? Or do you disagree with anything I wrote? Remember: Social media platforms change relentlessly, and some things may be outdated if you read this in 2027.
© Annika Wappelhorst 2025
