(Why) is LinkedIn important to have in academia?

Disclaimer: This is just my opinion, this is not a paid post.

I remember getting a LinkedIn profile way before I started my Masters. It was at the end of 2009 and I remember how my then future employer looked at my profile before our interview. I had connected to some really great teachers there as well, especially the same ones I had already connected to on Twitter. More about Twitter (or X as it is now called and has turned into a platform which is a bit discouraging, to be honest, since the new owner bought it) in another post.

In around 2015, I deleted my LinkedIn profile, as posts were appearing unrelated to professional life; things that I thought should belong on Instagram for example (and I do love a good photo of a dog, don’t get me wrong! 😀). Really personal things, when I think LinkedIn should be clearly about our professional lives, which is why it was created in the first place. There was no difference to Facebook, which I only lasted three years on, or other social media where people post their daily news - as I do too.

When I got into the PhD program, one of the first things my supervisor told me to do is open up a LinkedIn profile, in addition to one on Academia and ResearchGate, both of which I already had. I was a bit reluctant to open a profile again - but I did it and saw that it is its great old self again and even better!

I can connect to my teacher friends again, my students and ohter people I find interesting - and only people I things in common with, academics and also pages that I like to follow. Pages are great - it is like topics that interest you (for example, one of the pages I follow is called Academic Writing), and it is an article that you can read and sometimes they invite you to add comments, depending on your expertise. I haven’t tried that yet myself, but I am reading contributions from other people and I am learning tons!

So, what are you waiting for? Connect with me on Linkedin!