EP #080: LinkedIn Will Survive Its Identity Crisis (Here's Why I'm Still Bullish)

During a strategy review last week, a client asked where I think LinkedIn is headed.

It's a question I hear constantly, and one my leadership team wrestled with at our recent offsite. When I think about it, the answer breaks into two competing perspectives: the case for optimism, and the case for concern.

The Bull Case

I just finished an eight-week program with LinkedIn where I sat alongside communications teams from Fortune 100 companies and some of the sharpest strategists I've encountered. Across every industry, from healthcare to financial services to tech, these organizations are pouring resources into the platform because they're seeing results.

A few years ago, X looked like it might challenge LinkedIn for professional conversation, but that's over. X went through turbulence that eroded credibility with business audiences, and no new platform has emerged to capture the professional networking space. 

Meanwhile, Microsoft's backing gives LinkedIn resources and staying power that most social platforms will never have.

LinkedIn also benefits from what economists call switching costs, which is the friction involved in moving to a competitor. I see this firsthand - every week, in fact - when I meet executives who tell me LinkedIn is the only social platform they use. Their professional networks live there, their industry connections live there, and moving somewhere else would mean rebuilding from scratch.

And beyond that, where would they even go?

The Bear Case

That question sounds rhetorical, but I hear executives asking it seriously because the platform frustrates them.

Six months ago, I would open my newsfeed and consistently learn something valuable because people were sharing insights that made me think differently. Now when I scroll, the feed feels overrun with content that adds nothing, and too much of what gets attention looks like ads disguised as posts. 

AI-generated content floods every corner, and the posts getting thousands of likes often come from people gaming the algorithm or using engagement pods (I wrote about this problem a few weeks ago) rather than adding value.

These complaints come up in almost every conversation I have with executives. Good content isn't surfacing, genuine voices get buried, and the platform rewards volume over substance. These are real problems that LinkedIn needs to solve if it wants to remain the destination for serious professional content.

Why I'm Betting on LinkedIn Anyway

Despite the growing pains, I give LinkedIn the benefit of the doubt for three reasons.

1. Microsoft's resources mean LinkedIn has the engineering talent and capital to fix algorithmic problems if leadership prioritizes them. The company isn't going to let its flagship professional network deteriorate without a fight.

2. Those switching costs I mentioned earlier protect the platform during turbulence. When your entire professional network exists in one place, you don't abandon ship because the feed gets worse. You complain, sure, and you might scroll less enthusiastically, but you stay.

3. The complaints are widespread enough right now that someone at LinkedIn headquarters has to be paying attention. Either they'll course correct, or eventually a competitor will emerge to capture the discontent. Given their resources and head start, I'm betting on the former.

The Takeaway for Executives

LinkedIn is going through an identity crisis, but it remains the only platform where you can speak directly to investors, recruits, customers, and partners simultaneously. The algorithmic issues and content quality problems are solvable, and every month you stay visible builds on the months before it.

If you pull back now, you'll be invisible by the time the platform stabilizes and quality content gets rewarded again. But if you stay, you'll already be there.

Believe me, I see the problems clearly. I'm just betting they're solvable.

— Justin

Justin M. Nassiri | Founder & CEO
M: 650.353.1138 | E: [email protected]
250 Fillmore St Suite 150, Denver, CO 80206
www.ExecutivePresence.io

Executive Presence specializes in helping top-tier executives boost their visibility, activate their network, and position themselves as thought leaders via our premium, fully-managed LinkedIn service.

Our unique process involves ex-McKinsey, BCG, and Bain consultants conducting monthly hour-long interviews with our clients, and turning them into impactful daily LinkedIn posts to establish their unique voice and authority. On average, our clients see a 500% bump in engagement in their first 30 days with us. Data is continuously analyzed to improve engagement and identify impactful messaging that you can use for conferences, podcasts, and internal communications.