The Dilution of Influence

I was recently greeted with the below notification from LinkedIn:

Huzzah! I was elated. I was now a (virtual) card-carrying member of LinkedIn’s global elites. I was now able to share my thoughts on the industry as LinkedIn Influencers like Richard Branson, Guy Kawasaki, and Sir Martin Sorrell were able to do.

Then it quickly dawned on me: what the hell was I going to write? It’s all well and good to have a loud microphone, but what if you don’t have anything original to say or meaningful to add to whatever topic was making the rounds on the Internet?

That clearly hasn’t deterred others from adding their voices to the collective din. My LinkedIn feed is now populated with so many Influencer posts that it’s impossible to discern which is good quality content and viewpoints I want to read and what is masquerading as self-promoting noise. I admit to doing my fair share of liking, commenting and reposting of content but actually sharing my thoughts, having an original opinion and committing it into writing is quite a different matter entirely.

By opening the floodgates LinkedIn has on one hand allowed individuals to be broadcasting their expertise and viewpoint to everyone but I feel damage is being done to the credibility of the overall LinkedIn user experience. LinkedIn is as much a content company as it is a media company. And as such a curated editorial experience is essential to the long-term viability for LinkedIn to be a credible and valued source of content.

Much like the often-debated example of iPhone (iOS) vs. Android. I’ve been an iPhone user for many years and I am fully aware that I have a limited ability to customize my smartphone experience because I chose to have Apple curate my mobile Internet experience. I like the fact that careful and deliberate decisions have been made for me to have an optimal user experience. I don’t have the time, patience, desire or willingness to invest into tricking out my smartphone to the absolute limits possible. It’s for this same reason that I buy certain magazines and visit certain websites.

So much like the iOS/Android analogy above, I feel LinkedIn needs to tread carefully in how much they allow self-publishing. We live in a world that is over-saturated with information. In my opinion what’s needed is more curation and editing of content and information. Borrowing from Nate Silver’s book, it’s about finding the Signal amongst the Noise.

...and yes I am aware of the irony of using LinkedIn as a platform to have a critical opinion on LinkedIn’s Influencer posts!