Has LinkedIn Had Its Day?

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The Early Years: From CV Holder to Digital Rolodex

When LinkedIn launched in 2003, it was refreshingly straightforward. No gimmicks, no fluff. You uploaded your work history, connected with a few colleagues, and left it alone until you needed it. It wasn’t a destination—it was a directory.

But that simplicity was its strength. Recruiters discovered they could trawl it for candidates. Employers realised they could quietly vet people. Salespeople spotted opportunities. Gradually, it became more than a static résumé—it became the professional internet.

By the mid-2010s, it had grown into a kind of default professional layer. Microsoft clearly saw the potential, acquiring it in 2016 for $26.2 billion. From that point, things began to shift more decisively.

The Content Shift: From Network to Feed

With scale came a feed. And with a feed came content. Posts. Articles. Status updates. Some thoughtful. Some promotional. Some a little too pleased with themselves.

This was the beginning of LinkedIn’s identity as a platform—not just a place where work was recorded, but where it was performed. And so, the tone began to change. Professionals who understood how to work the algorithm started building audiences. The rise of the LinkedIn Influencer had begun.

To their credit, many have used the format well. But the ubiquity of personal anecdotes that double as leadership lessons, the structured vulnerability, the sea of posts that start with a cliffhanger and end with a question… it’s become a genre in its own right.

Still, engagement climbed. And with it, so did LinkedIn’s time-on-platform. The content worked—even if the tone sometimes wore thin.

The Platform Today: Cringe and Credibility in Equal Measure

Today, LinkedIn walks an unusual line. It’s both deeply useful and occasionally hard to take seriously.

On one hand, it remains the single most important digital space for hiring, professional visibility, and B2B engagement. With over 1 billion members, 65 million decision-makers, and six hires made every minute, the numbers speak for themselves. Over 80% of B2B leads from social media originate on LinkedIn.

On the other hand, it has become a stage—a place where the performance of work often takes precedence over the work itself. And nowhere is this more evident than in the emergence of the LinkedIn influencer.

What began as a handful of professionals sharing thoughtful reflections gradually gave rise to a new archetype: individuals who have turned the platform into a publishing machine. Some are experts with real insight to offer. Others have simply mastered the rhythm of the algorithm—personal story, neatly packaged lesson, a question at the end to drive engagement.

The result is a feed that can feel polished, but predictable. Structured vulnerability, humblebrags, and carefully framed photos of laptops next to cappuccinos. It’s not inherently bad—but it’s often repetitive, and occasionally performative.

Still, it works. Real influence is built here. Audiences are grown. Books launched. Businesses built. The format is established—and as long as the algorithm rewards it, it’s unlikely to go anywhere.

And yet, despite all this, most of us still log in. Because the reality is: it works. When used thoughtfully, LinkedIn can open doors, surface opportunities, and strengthen professional relationships. It just takes a bit more curation—and a slightly raised eyebrow.

The Future of LinkedIn

While many of us still think of LinkedIn as a social network, Microsoft sees something much larger in the making.

As Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, put it: “LinkedIn has become mission-critical to helping every person and organisation navigate a digital-first world of work.”

And he’s not talking about status updates.

Nadella sees LinkedIn as part of Microsoft’s broader ecosystem—a professional identity layer that integrates with Microsoft 365, Teams, Outlook, Dynamics, and now Copilot. In a 2023 earnings call, he noted: “We’re seeing record engagement as LinkedIn becomes the place people go to connect, learn, hire and sell. Our opportunity is not just professional networking—it’s to build the infrastructure for the future of work.”

That infrastructure is starting to take shape. We’re seeing deeper AI integration: personalised job suggestions, AI-written profiles and messages, smart recommendations for posts and leads. LinkedIn Learning is growing rapidly, nudging users into micro-courses and certifications—less content platform, more digital career campus.

There’s also growing appetite for private, niche communities. LinkedIn has traditionally been built on weak ties, but the next phase may involve building smaller, more focused groups. Think: profession-specific hubs, peer networks, and invite-only spaces for real dialogue.

And there’s a case to be made that LinkedIn could eventually become a utility. Less a feed, more a professional operating system—tied into workflows, tasks, and collaboration tools. One click from a Teams meeting, and you’re mentoring someone in your field. A quick Copilot prompt suggests someone worth meeting based on your last pitch deck. It’s a different kind of network. One that’s less about showing up and more about plugging in.

LinkedIn isn’t trying to become a better version of what it was. It’s quietly trying to become something else entirely.