"Another blind spot I had of LinkedIn is the calibre of its alumni. A few people messaged me to say that there are ex-LinkedIn folks in C-suites across the tech world."

"Temporary work relationships require a new model where both employee and employer can add value to each other over a shorter period of time (as compared to a “lifetime”)"

"The 21st century relationship — especially in tech — is much more fluid, with employees jumping from job-to-job"

"Hoffman dubbed the new employment model a “tour of duty”, which trains an employee to do great work at LinkedIn with the full expectation that they will move on."

"“LinkedIn’s hiring strategy for sales was somewhat unique in that they focused less on previous sales experience than intellectual curiosity. They sought leaders who could do anything but chose to sell. So you end up with a lot of really, really smart people with generalist backgrounds.”"

"The lifetime value of securing these contracts are so high, that LinkedIn spends more than comparable tech firms on sales and marketing expense. In one of LinkedIn’s final earnings report as a public company (Q3 2016), sales and marketing accounted for 32% of revenue."

"I think the cringe is due to 3 factors:"

"What is in the DNA of LinkedIn that leads to such predictably cringe content?"

"The Personality"

"Canadian sociologist Erving Goffman has the answer: in a book called The Presentation of Self in Every Day Life, Goffman posits that every person goes through life wearing many “masks”, like an actor in a theatre play."

"The platform also prompts cringey engagement activity like:"

"The customer"

"LinkedIn has turned into a pretty monster business: annual revenue is $10B+, which compares very favourably with other social networks like Twitter (~$5B), Snap (~$4B) and Pinterest (~$2-3B)."

"Talent Solutions (65% of sales):"

"Premium Subscriptions (17%):"

"Marketing Solutions (18%):"

"Today, ads may be closer to 25-30% of the revenue mix, but the platform still caters primarily to recruiters and HR departments."

"Every platform has its royalty. On Instagram it's influencers, foodies, and photographers. Twitter belongs to the founders, journalists, celebrities, and comedians. On LinkedIn, it’s hiring managers, recruiters, and business owners who hold power on the platform and have the ear of the people. The depravity of a platform where HR Managers are the rockstars speaks for itself."

"There are at least 3 knock-on effects for the LinkedIn newsfeed based on having HR and Recruiters as the top dogs:"

"Incentivizes humble bragging:"

"Rise of faux gurus:"

"AKA LinkedIn Influencers, because employers need to keep them workers motivated…and nothing motivates quite like a well-placed LinkedIn post with some famous quote taken completely out of context."

"Cringe-proof:"

"LinkedIn also poured resources into making the site a home for more thought leadership publishing (eg Bill Gates, Richard Branson)."

"The format and content combination earned a truly incredible name: broetry (aka bro + poetry)."

"Between the broems and celebrity thinkfluencers (Gates, Branson), regular LinkedIn users were getting buried in the feed."

"Dwell time: Time spent on a post is a stronger signal than only a like."

"Why do long-winded faux inspirational stories about nothing do well? Because suckers that read them are boosting dwell time."

"Why do humblebrags for new jobs and achievements do well? Because your direct connections are engaging with the post."

"Why does everyone ask ridiculous questions (aka “agree”)? Because comments and replies are like manna from heaven."

"Alex Kantrowitz makes the case that LinkedIn is actually the only “good social network.”"

"I agree with everything Kantrowitz lays out. But — almost certainly to my mental detriment — have zero intention of spending real time on LinkedIn."

"As good citizens of the internet, we have to find ways to reward quality shitposting…so I blasted out Lee’s LinkedIn post with a plea that someone hire this Vancouver-based wordsmith."