Somewhere between professional networking, business development, idea sharing, personal connection, and looking for your next opportunity, the social media platform we loved for those very reasons seems to have gotten lost in artificial intelligence, artificial engagement, virtue signalling, and the inability to have a conversation that encompasses any amount of civil discourse.
I'm afraid that, in ten years, LinkedIn is going to fall victim to another technology we all once revered.
Is it a coincidence that the same behemoth of a company acquired both Nokia and LinkedIn? Maybe. Maybe not, after all, only Nokia's mobile division suffered after the failure of Microsoft's Lumia launch due to factors far above my pay grade. All I can say for sure is that I was around Microsoft for the rollout of the Lumia, actually owned a Lumia, and bought into their idea of "win the device, and win the stack," which still haunts me to this day. Similarly, I was the manager of a group of sales professionals who also bought into what was once called "Team Sales Navigator," who, prior to the acquisition, had a dedicated account manager responsible for being a resource while after the acquistion quickly transformed into a sales representative with one objective, resigning our company to a long term contract on every call. But this isn't a piece based on facts, more opinion than anything, admittedly, and the doubt, well, the doubt is real, and if I had to guess, I'm not alone because after all, facts and opinions don't necessarily predict the future in this case as much as the obvious, user experience does.
And the user experience on LinkedIn? There is no question that is what seems to be "in fact," the part of the platform that appears to be in doubt. A user experience that more of the majority of its most loyal users believe will someday return, or optimistically will empower all of us to adapt to, but still leaves some of us standing here waiving a white flag, and looking for the very next thing to cling to that can capture the experience we once had, and build upon it, unfortunately unlike everything that Microsoft has failed to do with Nokia's mobile division.
Will LinkedIn be next to fall? I often think back to the day I sat in a room full of PC users with a MacBook, only to be called out by the speaker in front of the entire room for using a machine that, to this day, still works.
"'Win the device, win the stack?' That pitch still echoes in my head. But I've learned the truth: "Improve the user experience, and win me back."
Until then, LinkedIn will continue to lose what made it matter in the first place...its users.
Thanks,
Derek
P.S. If you disagree with me, share it. If you agree with me, I’m glad we’re on the same page, but please know, I’m not preaching to the choir.
