Personal brand | Has LinkedIn become too personal?

In 2003, a website was created to help connect the world’s professionals to help them be more productive and successful. LinkedIn, a social media site we have all grown to know, was created by its founders as they wanted to find a way of using the internet to enable networking amongst professionals from different sectors and from across the world.

Clearly, LinkedIn founders achieved what they sought to – by 2007 the site had more than 15 million members and in 2016 it was sold to Microsoft for an eyewatering $26bn. Most people who operate within businesses have a LinkedIn profile, and throughout the years it’s been a space for founders to meet and achieve funding, candidates to find job roles, and for employees to share their professional successes and highlights.

But recently, the social media site has undergone a slow but noticeable change, whereby serious remarks have turned more playful, professional facades have become personal, and users are more likely to share their individual perspective and life outside of work more than ever. This begs the question: Has LinkedIn become too personal?

How personal is too personal?

This transition from professional to personal has compelled many spectators to say the site has become just like every other social media application, despite having roots in the world of professionalism. But some say that just as the working world has evolved into a more casual, less professional and more personal space, so too has LinkedIn.