LinkedIn: Flex or Be Flexed On

In honor of LinkedIn’s culture, this image is meant to illustrate me and my Certified Apartment Manager acronym. I am Tiffany Smith, CAM. Respect my flex. 💪🏾

As millions have observed over the last 20 years, social media is a blessing and a curse. We stay connected with old friends, family, and co-workers. We share triumphs and heartbreak with the corresponding memes and gifs. Babies, marriages, graduations, promotions, death and tragedy are all shared in that space. It’s a wild mix of emotions, if you let it touch you that way. Social media also yields the power to destroy lives and steal copious amounts of our time. So, I took a break. For the last (almost) two months, my time on socials has been SLIM. Or at least I thought so…until I realized I was cheating with LinkedIn.

Anxiety, impossible comparisons, and wasted time are the reasons I checked out of Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. I was wasting so much time reading articles like “27 Ways to Fold Towels” or following a ridiculous argument in the comments of a local post about a new bike lane (I’m only being slightly facetious). Many days I was 15 minutes late for work because I spent 30 minutes sitting on the edge of my unmade bed “liking” Jessica’s post about her new car (How can SHE afford THAT?! Her only income comes from selling Papier-mâché butterflies at the swap meet! What am I doing wrong? 😩) or leaving a petty comment on Jason’s long post about his right to have a million guns and a daily reminder that he thinks poor people are lazy.

Don’t ask why I’m friends with Jason. Remaining his friend on social media means I’m more tolerate of other people’s lifestyles, okay? Stop judging me.

Anyway, this all boils down to my inability to sit with myself and accept what I have. I feel left behind and I wanted to focus on other things like reading 4 books a month again or writing on my own. LinkedIn tried to fill the void. I’m not looking for a new job….yet….and I’m not the networking type. It’s “professional social media”, right? I typically visit when I need a job, or to spy on an old coworker I don’t like. It’s important that I not apply if SHE works there now but I rarely paid attention to the feed. Now I wish I hadn’t. Nothing is safe.

The users on my feed seem to only post about getting their dream job and completing their fifth Ph.D program. Or they post links to stories about 12 year old girls going to college to study chemistry and engineering. Then there are the long posts about how they suffered for 97 years and now they have 17 degrees. All the people commenting “Congratulations!” have 6 acronyms after their names. It’s even less inclusive and more intimidating.

The part that makes me sad is the users trying their hardest to make connections. That desperation is thick too. There are people telling their stories and screaming for professional guidance that can barely get a comment. Meanwhile, others will congratulate Jericho on his eighth Master’s Degree and new, new six figure job.

Jericho doesn’t NEED your claps anymore. He made it 10 years ago but keeps reframing it on socials because he needs attention. On the other hand, Vanessa is unemployed and needs help updating her resume. All she gets are DMs and comments offering resume services for $200+ or thoughts and prayers. Her cries are drowned out by Jericho, the degree hoarding fame whore, and his 23 paragraph, overly hashtagged post about hard work and determination. Instagram models are less thirsty for attention than some of the folks on LinkedIn. As an “old” millennial, I know that all of it can’t be so fabulous but that platform has me questioning my life choices more than than I ever did on Facebook. Nobody wants to see a complainer, but we shouldn’t just celebrate people with advanced degrees and six figure jobs. Shout out to the people doing work behind the scenes and truly assisting those in need. That has to be real with all the never ending career and education flexing.

I have been in property management on and off since 2008. I’m actually EXCELLENT at my job, after finding affordable housing, but I don’t have a fancy title and I just got my first national certification (and acronym #flex) this year. If I told you how hard I work and how little I get paid, you would call me crazy. Our skillset is expansive and transferable, but what do you think of when you see Property Manager or Community Manager? Probably about that person that works in the office of your apartment community (most likely the leasing consultant) and you have no idea what kind of challenges, and hilarity, we face. Neither do the people reading our resumes. But that’s a story for another day.

So, I must ask, how does LinkedIn make you feel? I would prefer an answer from people that are immune to the virtual world. If I asked my brother that question, he’d laugh in my face because he doesn’t compare himself to anyone else. I’m not scared to report that I’m not that evolved! Call me sensitive, but I try my best most days and still feel inadequate. The last thing I need is a reminder that my profession pays poorly and doesn’t garner respect, headhunters, or multiple acronyms.

Oh and before you say it, I’m not hating and I love to celebrate people, but the excess makes it feel toxic and fake. I applaud anyone with fifty-eleven professional certificates. It takes effort, if nothing else, but save it with the flexing. Share something productive that others can learn and grow from. I refuse to believe you simply got there “by the grace of God.” Tell us how you REALLY stayed motivated! I want to know about the day you almost quit. Tell me something tangible that inspired you to keep going. Be relatable.

Lesson learned. Stay away from LinkedIn. We’re not all invited to that party either. But cheers to those that are! May you garner all the claps, likes, hearts, and “Congrats” comments you seek! I’ll be removing the app until I need the job boards again.

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