Over the years, I’ve come to hate LinkedIn with a passion. Sadly, a platform meant to foster connections, learning and employment opportunities has become the total opposite of its original purpose. 

I didn’t always hate LinkedIn. I used it for over 10 years and was active on the platform. However, starting my consultancy business shed some light on how useless (and irritating) it’s become. Plus, as my audience may be aware, I am an authentic individual and have adopted the same approach towards my work. 

Authenticity somehow conflicts with the way people use LinkedIn in the present day. And this is not the only reason that I hate LinkedIn. Allow me to list my reasons for growing to hate LinkedIn with a passion.

1. Mostly useless for business

I’m a business person. Therefore, how I feel about a certain platform, individual or issue is not the sole determinant of my decision-making. 

However, what bugs me with LinkedIn is that it proved to be extremely useless for my business growth. 

I rarely, if ever, got a client from LinkedIn. I did have people expressing interest in my services, yet they all turned out to be dead-end prospects. 

The issue is that LinkedIn is filled with people/businesses trying to sell their services, and this makes you just another “salesperson”. There is hardly anything unique about you or your business seeking to gain prospects. 

For reference, I’m partially talking about those sales DMs that most of us receive in our inboxes. 

2. Fakeness

Fakeness and inauthenticity are essentially the core of most social media and networking platforms. Not only is LinkedIn not an exception, but it has become a champion of BS content and posts. 

And the worst part is that most people on LinkedIn believe they are unique, yet they are mimicking what everybody else is doing.

3. Virtue signalling

Building on the last point, the virtue signalling on LinkedIn is beyond the scale. 

Let’s look at the immigration industry, one which I am familiar with. Most “professionals” in this sector are quick to post content on migrants’ rights and cultural sensitivities.

I saw a post from an individual stressing the importance of getting foreign names right. Yet, this very same person ironically misspelt my name in a direct message to me. 

This made me think: “I’ll make a post about this just to demonstrate the fakeness of these people” and perhaps to emphasise the importance of getting other people’s names right as basic courtesy. 

And oh boy, I had these leaches jumping under the post condemning me. Not to mention that one of these people worked in the immigration sector too.

4. Constant sales messages

Not a single day went by without me receiving some form of sales message on LinkedIn. 

And the worst part is that these messages are so generic and not personalised. 

5. LinkedIn “influencers”

Lastly, let’s talk about these “Top Voices” on LinkedIn who for the most part provide little to no value. 

I’m talking about those who share generic posts such as “pay your people more”, and “be kind” and having 10,000 people reacting to such posts as if they have paved the way for living on Mars. 

LinkedIn may be beneficial for some, but I grew to hate it more and more in the last few years. Perhaps it’s time for a new platform? One that is not centred around BS and vanity. 

About | My name is Sohrab Vazir. I’m a UK-based entrepreneur and business consultant. At the age of 22, and while I was an international student (graduate), I started my own Property Technology (PropTech) business. Now I help aspiring business owners with starting and scaling the ventures.