Quitting LinkedIn

2024 was my final year on LinkedIn. I deleted my account on New Year's Eve. I didn't want to give them a second of my time in 2025 or beyond. A big part of what drove me away was platform decay. I squarely blame Microsoft for this. Their zeal for profits contributed to the ruin of a once-useful site. The other main factor was end users and content creators foisting a litany of stuff I simply didn't want to see. LinkedIn was never perfect. Maybe not even great. But there was a time when it was good for job seekers and professionals looking to showcase their career development and successes, for keeping up with industry news & events, and even socializing. Those days are gone.
Enshittification
I was constantly nagged to install the LinkedIn app. They simply wouldn't take "No" for an answer. Every few pages or so, they'd nag me. Sometimes it was an obtrusive header or footer I could dismiss by tapping the X. Other times, it would obscure web page content. Occasionally, it was a nag screen that filled the entire page.




More Enshittification
They also made it clear they'd withhold content if I didn't install the app. (Dick move.) If you've followed me on social media, you may know I stay away from mobile apps for privacy reasons. Whether you're on Android or iOS, you owe it to yourself to read the Electronic Frontier Foundation's article How to Disable Ad ID Tracking on iOS and Android, and Why You Should Do It Now. Seriously--if you haven't already, stop reading this and check out the EFF article immediately! It's that important.





Even More Enshittification
Whether I was on a mobile or desktop browser, LinkedIn never respected my choice to display posts in chronological order (I think the options were "Most Relevant" vs "Most Recent".) Every time I opened their home page the first time, it always (Always!) defaulted to their algorithm's non-chronological order. I'm not sure it mattered anyway. Even after choosing to see posts chronologically, they were clearly not in that order.
Speaking of algorithms, what they showed me in years past was generally on point. More recently, though, I was seeing more and more provocative, polarizing posts. It's another manipulative trick to drive engagement and keep users from leaving their site. Admittedly, this got under my skin more than it should have. I think the worst part of it is that some of that content was coming from their advertisers, whose "business" profiles could not be blocked. I detested this.

Posts about union suppression?
No, thanks.

Posts about religion?
No. No! NO!
A million times, No!
The desperation for engagement was palpable. "Oh, no! You're leaving our site? Heaven forbid!"
Yeah, we know how hyperlinks work. A lot of us figured it out back in the 90s.

Extremism
Realizing there were more and more people posting right-wing extremist filth, I purposely bailed out before the inauguration. There was a long line of bigots eager to tell us how much they want to slurp the Mango Mussolini or kiss Space Karen's ass. I would imagine it has gotten much worse since I left.
Toxic Positivity/Privilege

I wish finding success was as easy as making a list and ticking off the check boxes. There are many on LinkedIn who'd have you believe it's just that simple. I think deep down we all know it isn't. But that hasn't deterred a multitude of mediocre men from shilling their keys to success. The common threads I see with almost all of them: toxic positivity, a lack of understanding of their own privilege, and the inability to recognize the obstacles others face that they never did. "Just take the same path I did!"
Thought leaders
Early in my career as a developer, we used to say "You can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting a DBA", which was a dig at the folks around us that didn't know nearly as much about databases as they thought they did. (That's a variation of a Carla Tortelli quote from Cheers, by the way.) These days, that applies to a lot of folks on LinkedIn who seem to position themselves as more than they really are. Imagine showing up to your class reunion and everyone's name tag identified them as a Thought Leader. It felt that way to me on LinkedIn sometimes.
Spam
Gee. Thanks so much for connecting. 🙄
I generally never turned down a connection request. Unfortunately, many of them only wanted to sell me something. I'm sure most of you can relate.

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