Optimizing LinkedIn: Is the Question 'When?' or 'How?'

Being a computer science student, I can duly say that this is an NP-complete problem — there ISN’T any OPTIMAL time to use it, but there’s a way to verify it’s optimal usage! Think about it.

Now people will clearly disagree — studies show that it’s best to post on/talk to people during the median of the week (Tuesday to Thursday) — when the early-week meetings are over and the next-week iterations are left to do. Timing-wise, 3PM to 8 PM are the most optimal, given most people finish the majority of work before the afternoon and give time to other fulfilling habits after dinner/supper.

BUT, this doesn’t exactly display the correct details. The main reason why? Evolution! People don’t have exact hours of work anymore — the start-up culture has influenced a LOT of companies, so much so that people work in the strangest of times, which in the case of students and new professionals, bodes perfectly given the odd hours we work in. Students, c’mon. Y’all know it’s true!

Hence, in this case, it’s imperative that we abandon the normal concepts of "best days/times" and go head-on into the fray.

Now, there's truly a lot more to the whole question of optimizing LinkedIn. There's this new term in the tech circles, called "personal branding." It is, essentially building a comprehensive persona of oneself on LinkedIn—which can be achieved in a multitude of ways. One of the best, is to regularly post good, well-researched content about the things one's interested in. Remember, more views means a better brand. In that regard, the video above shows an excellent TED talk by Tai Tran, one of Apple's most talented young prodigies, about how personal branding is yet another aspect to, in a very bland sense of the term, "hack" the world of professional social media.

So, the advice?

Use LinkedIn, as much as you can.

Use it more than other social media sites — because (trust me), it’ll benefit you way more than a random snap or a post about your favourite band.

Even when you aren’t active, just go through your feed and read articles — the more you read, the more you learn.

Talk to people, share relevant articles.

Instead of browsing other social media sites before going to sleep, take a look at what the amazing companies are doing everyday through the feed.

In short, make LinkedIn worth your time and people will make YOU worth their time.

Cheers.