LinkedInfluencers
There’s a new community of influencers emerging – and LinkedIn is allowing them to thrive
Employees want workplaces to do better; the LinkedIn algorithm supports the real-talk cause
In 2022, and because no social network is safe, LinkedIn has become an ecosystem in which a new type of influencer – the ‘LinkedInfluencer’, if you will – can thrive. But ‘creators’, as the platform officially calls them, aren’t out here sharing their Amazon hauls. They’re writing inspirational posts on how they market themselves to recruiters – despite often not having any conventional workplace experience – and getting deep with personal stories about bad bosses. Go ahead and check (we’ll wait) – their earnest memos are probably cutting through the noise of your LinkedIn feed right now. Attracting thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of followers. And also attracting job offers, side hustles and cold hard cash.
Take Natalie Riso, who is arguably one of the world’s first LinkedInfluencers. In 2018, she became the most followed college student on the platform, with posts such as how her first-ever job in fast food prepared her for her first post-grad gig. Riso’s original intent was to use her LinkedIn posts as a writing portfolio when applying for positions. But as she kept publishing remarkably candid work stories, often three times a week, her audience grew, eventually reaching nearly 400,000 followers. This helped her get a marketing job, after which she pivoted her LinkedIn content to go more in depth about her dream industry: technology. And along the way, her LinkedIn clout led to paid speaking engagements and a sponsorship deal with Bumble Bizz.
In these times, stories such as Riso’s make a lot of sense. Like it or not, work-life boundaries have all but disappeared, thanks to the switch to (seemingly endless) remote work and to major social and racial justice reckonings. Employees want their workplaces to be and do better – and the LinkedIn algorithm seems to support the real-talk cause. It amplifies members with important things to say, and more frequently
