Why is LinkedIn Slowly Turning into Instagram in Business Casual?

You know the ones. The people who post "Just landed at JFK and had an epiphany about leadership while watching a bird struggle against the wind. Be the bird."
Sir. This is LinkedIn. Not your overpriced mindfulness retreat.

Somewhere along the way, professional networking on LinkedIn became a competitive sport in performative vulnerability and pseudo-inspirational nonsense. Gone are the days of “Excited to share I got a new role!”—now it’s:

“Today, I spilled my cold brew on my MacBook, cried in the parking lot, then remembered: THIS is what resilience looks like. #CEOenergy #MondayMotivation”

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Ma’am. You work in Accounts Payable. And that “resilience” was a $2,000 AppleCare bill.

Let’s talk Instagram habits that have infiltrated LinkedIn like a motivational virus:

• The humblebrag disguised as trauma: “When I was laid off, I realized the layoff was actually a level-up.”
• ‍ The spiritual CEO archetype: “Leadership isn’t about KPIs, it’s about inner peace.”
• The gym selfie with a caption about “discipline” as if squats are transferable skills for QBRs.
• The “my toddler taught me more about project management than my MBA ever did” post. (No, your toddler didn’t. They threw applesauce at your laptop.)

We get it. You want to go viral. But maybe, just maybe, LinkedIn isn’t the place to announce your deep healing journey via a story about a broken stapler.

Here’s a radical idea: How about we bring actual value back to the feed? Like sharing:

• A useful template.
• A real lesson you learned from a job, not a nap.
• A win that doesn’t require a novel-length backstory involving airport delays and inner strength.

Let’s leave the filters, soft lighting, and “just me being raw and real” nonsense where it belongs—in your Insta stories. LinkedIn is still (supposed to be) the place where professional brains connect. Not your personal branding petting zoo.