COLOMBO : LinkedIn is probably one of the most widely used professional networking platforms in use at present. While we spend more time on social media now than in social circles, it seems to make sense for me to nudge all the readers of Full of Etiquette to be mindful of how and what they do on LinkedIn.
I will look at this from the conventional corporate standpoint where there is power distance, where hierarchies are respected and business relationships are both sincere and at arms length.
Remember, some time ago I said following good etiquette boosts your image (your personal brand) and allows everyone to interact and share common facilities without being a nuisance to each other?
You may pat yourself on the back if you do remember that! So being full of etiquette when on LinkedIn or any other social media platform for that matter, means that it will reflect well on yourself
and it will also ensure that others don’t cringe and die when they scroll down to your posts. Go ahead, read on and discover whether others are on the brink of removing you from their LinkedIn connections.
01.Is it insightful, inspirational and/or professional?
If your answer is a ‘no’, that is one post you should keep out of LinkedIn. Maybe there are other social circles and social media platforms that you can post it on, but save face and spare everyone else the pain – leave it away from LinkedIn.
02.Limit the Images
My dear self obsessed selfie kings and queens, as stunning as you maybe, LinkedIn is not a synonym for your picture gallery. Images of yourself should be limited to photographs captured at corporate events or something of that nature and a simple profile picture. Talking about profile pictures; they should reflect who you are in a corporate sense, what you stand for and emanate the essence of your organization’s brand.
The most glamorous images taken at your friend’s wedding may be more suited for Facebook, or should I say Meta?!
03.Respond and React Appropriately
Your inner most emotions and daring desires need not be known by your LinkedIn network. If you have something to say, go meet them and say so! The emojis with hearts to your colleague’s post and remarks of utmost embarrassment to your counterpart’s posts are not taking you anywhere and are very much in poor taste. Keep your personal biases, religious and political views out of your statements and do not use it as a platform to bully people or be sarcastic.
04.Say it in Words
Using as many emojis and dots as possible in your posts/ responses conveys poor clarity in communication from your end. While it may not be considered impolite, it would definitely be considered useless.
Your image is at stake – take control. Use grammarly if you must.
05.Respond to References
If someone has made a reference to you in one of their posts, be professional and respond to it. It could be either a positive or negative comment or it could even be an invitation to talk about something.
Whatever the case may be, carefully read through what they have said and respond. If you don’t want to take the person head on, leave a reply such as ‘Thank you for your comment. Let us discuss this further; I just sent you a personal message’.
06.Actively Partake in Your Organization’s LinkedIn Activity
This shows that you are passionate about your organization and that you truly care. When there is a special event worth talking about, make sure you take a moment to connect and share it with your network. Being completely silent and passive about your organization speaks volumes about you to potential recruiters.
Before you hit the enter button or click the post option, run it against this checklist. If you have questions, please feel free to write to us at fullofetiquette@gmail.com as you have been doing in the past and we will shed more light from an etiquette perspective.
Till I return with ‘Full of Etiquette’ next week, stay safe!
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Praveeni Jayasekera is the Founder and Editor of fullofetiquette.com; she is a regular advocate on the subject. She is an ACMA, CGMA; holds a BSc. Economics and Management; PG in IT and Diploma in Social Sciences. She is employed full time in the capacity of Chief Operating Officer at CL Synergy (Private) Limited; a Sri Lankan freight forwarding company. She is an ardent fan of the written word and has compiled content for numerous websites for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes, corporate profiles and blogs. She has experience in training corporate professionals on customer service and business etiquette. She conducts coaching sessions on etiquette for school children every now and then.
