Keep Politics Off of LinkedIn
Kent R.
Advocacy is a very important part of my life. I stand for what I believe in, and I let others know it. Appropriately.
While I don't believe that politics should be excluded from polite conversation – if anything, we need more polite conversation about politics – I do believe that you need to be smart about veering into controversial topics in professional forums.
Here's why.
- LinkedIn is a networking space focused on professional endeavors. Unless you work in politics, these discussions are not work for you. So they don't belong on LinkedIn.
- No matter your political viewpoint, statistics say that about 50% of people will tune you out immediately. Alienating potential professional partners is not smart.
- It's hard to manage our "voice" when it comes to sharing opinions on heated topics. Why? Because emotion gets in the way. As such, most people who do so on public forums tend to sound a bit unhinged. You know what I'm talking about.; we all have that crazy relative who loves to blow things up on Facebook.
Again, I can't stress enough that this is not about proudly sharing your opinion. It's about being strategic about where and how you do it.