Facebook-I’ve Learned To Live With It. Not LinkedIn

Facebook–I’ve learned to live with it–
What I can no longer live with is LinkedIn. It’s my own fault. I was clinging to my old professional self with former colleagues who were never more than acquaintances to begin with. I was using it as a social media platform, a way to keep in contact with a dwindling pool of so-called peers. On average, it doesn’t work for those in the repurposed, encore time of life. LinkedIn best serves those early in his/her career. They’re pouring the foundation for their own adulthood while riding an out-of-control treadmill of self-promotion. They are perfecting their personal brands filled with youthful epiphanies. They are barraged with “Do This and Don’t Do That” from an endless sea of self-proclaimed influencers. It’s a oneupsmanship in the pursuit of recognition and the next promotion.

On a broader scale, LinkedIn itself has morphed into a platform for the self-centered pontifications from those who can’t wait to inform the rest of us about the meaning of life, the balance between home and work, or how they are experts in everything from governance to rocket science. As card carrying members of our ageist society, they place little value on those who maneuver along (Their Own) Road Less Traveled.” Experience does not hold the value it once did. Even those who are peaking in their respective careers fail to acknowledge that there are others who are more senior and have previously passed along similar paths.

What most users of LinkedIn fail to value most is wisdom. They use the term as a punchline. If they actually take the time to be contemplative, they might find that listening is more important than speaking, where true knowledge comes from the introspective silence from within. They have yet to grasp that titles, certifications, and positional authority are transient at best. They have not realized that other life phases don’t require business cards. As for me, I’m still a lifelong learner and from those of all ages, but especially those who blazed trails before me. As for LinkedIn, the account is now closed. Thank God!! Since people over the age of 55 only represent 2.9% of LinkedIn users, my absence will hardly be missed.