What was once a site for connecting professionals has become a site for awkward humble-brags and AI slop.
I received this message just this past week on Linkedin, a platform I used to love.
Looking Forward to Our Oct 30 Discussion — Plus a Breakthrough to Share
Hi Rachael,
I really admire the work you’re doing in the dementia care space — your Johns Hopkins Press publications and the poem “16 Things I’d Want If I Got Dementia” are deeply impactful and widely appreciated.
I’m looking forward to our 2:1 discussion on October 30 — thank you for taking the time.
Ahead of that, I wanted to briefly share that I’m involved with a breakthrough technology I believe could greatly benefit both you and the individuals and organizations you serve. This goes far beyond a one-time collaboration — it’s:
✅ Scalable
✅ Saleable
✅ Legacy-building
I’d be happy to talk more during our upcoming call, or even before if you’re curious to explore how this aligns with your mission.
Looking forward to connecting.
She’d filled out the Calendly invite in a way that suggested English was not her first language (this is, of course, totally fine)
…but the message that she sent me via Linkedin? Robotically flawless.
I realized immediately that she was trying to sell me something (most likely into a pyramid scheme, based on her profile) and my Calendly is reserved for potential clients.
I canceled the call she’d scheduled with me.
Linkedin used to be my favorite platform for work.
In fact, up until about two years ago, I got the vast majority of my clients from Linkedin directly! I used to tell fellow entrepreneurs, “Oh, you’ve gotta get on Linkedin! I even shell out the cash for Sales Navigator!”
Now?
I’m wondering if Sales Nav is worth the price.
Linkedin used to be:
- Legitimate job postings
- A great way to connect with potential clients
- Full of interesting, work-appropriate posts
Now it’s:
- Fake job postings
- Humble-brags about things like hiring someone that “didn’t seem like a good fit at first” but “became a superstar because I gave them a chance”
- A site overrun with AI-slop posts and AI-generated comments
- Full of posts about people’s kids or vacations, but with the added “this-is-what-my-kids-taught-me-about-leadership” language
When I tell you that Linkedin used to be how we got 90% of our clients, I’m not exaggerating. Most of our clients would come from either cold outreach on Linkedin or a word-of-mouth referral—and then they’d look me up on Linkedin.
Something changed in 2021. I have a feeling the pandemic was at least partially to blame.
It began to seem as though Linkedin had “lost the plot,” and lost the clear purpose of why the application was originally created.
It started to seem as though Linkedin was slowly devolving into Facebook Lite.
I was being pitched constantly by people who had no reason to pitch to me. I turned off the option for 3rd party connections to message me.
My own messages are going without replies, or without even being read. I realized we’d need to find new ways to find clients.
More and more posts are clearly generated by AI and following the same long-winded, boring format.
At this point, we’re still posting regularly to Linkedin, but—at least for me—it’s with a lot less heart. I used to enjoy Linkedin.
Now?
Not so much.
