LinkedIn Blocking Blocked?
There are some LinkedIn habits that annoy me. I’ve seen the comments, so I know I’m not alone.
Liking.
Example: Four wounded and 14 dead in Chicago mass shooting. And my options are:
Thumbs up. Way to go?
Clapping. Not an appropriate response.
Heart in hand? This comes closest to a suitable response, as in, “I care and am empathetic.”
Heart. Am I in love with this news? I don’t think so.
Light bulb. No. It wasn’t a brilliant idea.
Laughter. I think we can all agree that doesn’t work unless we are sadistic reprobates.
Oftentimes, a post just makes us angry, or sad. How about a red face with steam rising out of the top, or a blue face with tears?
In an effort to remain ever positive, we lack emojis that adequately express our feelings. It’s okay to be angry or sad. The world is not always a positive, happy place, and labeling it with an inappropriate emoji isn’t going to change that. At least, when you like something you are kept at the same location, which is not always the case with other actions.
“Scroll, scroll, scroll, rinse, repeat. “Ugh!” You ask yourself, when you realize you are several hundred comments away from ground zero. “How badly do I really want to follow this person?””
Following.
In good web design, clicking a link should not prohibit you from returning to your last position. Following is a positive action, and yet, when you follow someone and click a back button, whether it be the one on your browser, or the left arrow button at the top of the profile screen; you are tossed back to the very first comment in the post. This is a huge imposition when reading through hundreds of comments.
Scroll, scroll, scroll, rinse, repeat. “Ugh!” You ask yourself, when you realize you are several hundred comments away from ground zero. “How badly do I really want to follow this person?”
Blocking
It may not be a new practice, but my awareness of it is. In today’s political hot bed of dissenting opinions, I should be able to block whomever I wish—whenever I wish. But I began to notice that when I am working through a post that has a lot of comments, that post can just disappear from my view. Poof!. All I’ve done is like, comment, follow—and, oh yes, block.
It didn’t click with me right away, but I had a sneaking suspicion, so I began to tally how many blocks I did before a post would vanish. It seems that five is the magic number.
Now, why is this an issue for LinkedIn? Why try to control my narrative, my portal into this messed-up vista of political intrigue?
There are many people on LinkedIn capable of intelligent discourse. Then, there are those others I no longer want to deal with.
May I just say, “You can do better, LinkedIn.”