Thoughts on…LinkedIn

Hey look, we're all there because of work, right?

Or at least most of us.
(Maybe some of you get a kick out of reading 25 inspirational posts every day without any business interest attached? In that case, you do you)

But for the rest of us, my point is:
Yes, we are all there to "network" in one way or another.

And maybe sometimes the posts that scream "WE ARE NOT CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE BECAUSE WE HAVE ULTERIOR MOTIVES, WE JUST WANT TO GET TO KNOW THEM" might feel a little disingenuous.

Yes, we are probably primarily interacting with people who (we hope) might be able to help us out with something, or hire us, or refer us to someone who will hire us.

And I have to admit, I definitely sometimes feel a bit iffy sending someone who is very clearly a voice buyer a message that "pretends" to just want to chat.

But here's the thing:

Why not both?

Why can I not just want to chat and maybe wish someone a nice day, while also hoping that maybe one day they might give me a job? Not expecting that they will. Or pestering them.
But establishing a genuine connection with someone who just so happens to be a potential client.

I think both can be true.

It's a weird parallel universe here where everyone knows what the aim of the game is, but also somehow pretends that it isn't.

It's ok. We're all there for the same thing.

This post was brought to you by my own inhibitions about messaging people and needing to remind myself that it's ok. 🙃