Still use LinkedIn?

[sengsational]

I show no current employer. My summary says that I am not looking for work.

Same here...just set the end date for megacorp and configured for not seeking employment. That doesn't keep them from nagging me a little bit, via the occasional email. But deleting those without even looking at them gives me a bit of pleasure, so keeping my linked in account is no problem.

 

[RockyMtn]

Never used LinkedIn, twitter or facebook and I don't intend to.

 

[48Fire]

I still have my account. It keeps me in touch with a couple people. I have not updated it.

 

[LoneAspen]

Never used LinkedIn, twitter or facebook and I don't intend to.

I only started using LinkedIn for professional reasons. I would never have joined otherwise.

And I'm the same as you re: other social media. I have no use for Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media app.

I must be one of the few people out there that uses their smartphone just for phone calls and emails. I think I've only installed one app on it, for looking at movie ratings when I'm out and might see a movie.

 

[Cobra9777]

I have no use for Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media app.

I was a very light LinkedIn user while working. Today, it helps keep me connected to a few friends around the world from my working days. I have a Twitter account, but never use it.

Facebook OTOH is an essential vehicle for staying in touch with extended family and close friends that otherwise I wouldn't interact with very often (if at all) due to travel constraints and our geographic dispersion. The key is to manage your friend list and other settings, consistent with that objective. Using an ad blocker with Chrome helps as well.

 

[MBAustin]

I updated mine shortly after ER as I was planning to build a consulting practice so wanted it to reflect that. However, that never really got off the ground so next year I'm planning to change it to "retired". Note that there is a feature where you can stop notifying people when you update your status, so they won't think you've just now retired when you make such an update.

I enjoy keeping in touch with a few people, but mostly, like others here, I use it to help others in my network when I can. Megacorp is still laying a lot of my former colleagues off as they are too expensive for new management.

 

[Jaded salami]

Note that there is a feature where you can stop notifying people when you update your status, so they won't think you've just now retired when you make such an update.

I didn't know they had that option. Updated my profile today with this option even though I ER'd in April. Thanks, MBAustin.

 

[Milton]

I was getting frequent requests to link to people I did not know in order to pad their own networks.

Never been a member of LinkedIn, but I understand that this is a common experience.

I've never understood the purpose or attraction of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or similar 'social media'.

 

[target2019]

Never been a member of LinkedIn, but I understand that this is a common experience.

I've never understood the purpose or attraction of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or similar 'social media'.

LinkedIn - use to profile your career highlights, experience, education, future direction, and availability. Use to follow career interests of relatives. Posting behavior: infrequent.
Twitter - use to follow famous (and fictitious ) people for light humor. Follow music stations to know about free music availability, upcoming events. Follow streaming video reviews for what to watch on Amazon or Netflix. Connect with customer service reps. Posting behavior: use iTunes extension to auto post what's playing.
Facebook - use to see recently posted pics of close relatives. Posting behavior: old photos we find in boxes - - once a week.

This site you read each day is social media. I use it for education.

I'll probably continue with all of my social media accounts for a long time.

 

[Midpack]

I'm still on LinkedIn and I changed my profile to show I was retired as soon as I walked away. I don't rule out going back to work in some capacity, or I'd probably delete it. I don't look at the site very often, probably once every few months.

I haven't joined Facebook, but I use it almost daily for local businesses that communicate using FB. Many businesses don't maintain their websites as well as their FB page, and more and more businesses use FB exclusively (no website at all).

And I use Twitter daily too, great resource for sifting news.

Many people who don't use Facebook and Twitter still think it's for teens sharing mundane experiences, while true, they're far more than that (I've elaborated several times before, no sense repeating).

 

[LoneAspen]

Have not thought about my LinkedIn account much other than wondering about those connections who suddenly endorse me for having a certain skill they'd have no clue about. I'll have to give it some thought as I could have some fun with this!

I hate LinkedIn endorsements. I got tired of people endorsing me for skills I had no interest in keeping current anymore, or never used in the first place.

I looked for a way to disable my endorsements completely, but never found one. But the flood of people endorsing me stopped when they realized I wasn't going to turn around and endorse them, too.

No endorsements now for a couple months, and that's fine by me.

 

[Focus]

I hate LinkedIn endorsements. I got tired of people endorsing me for skills I had no interest in keeping current anymore, or never used in the first place.

I looked for a way to disable my endorsements completely, but never found one.

They may have added this feature since you last tried. Click on the "Edit Profile" button next to the photo of your profile page. Then click on the edit button on the right side of "Skills & Endorsements." There, as LinkedIn says:

Manage how endorsements work for you
Check out our new features that put you in control of your endorsements. Choose whether you want to get endorsed, which endorsements to show, if you'd like to receive emails, and more.​

 

[seraphim]

Never used LI - might be fun to play with, now that I'm retired lol. FB is strictly for family and friends.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[luckydude]

A few years ago before I became FI, I used to work a guy who was a complete a**. Everyone who worked for him hated him. He had this unfortunate habit of asking his subordinates to write glowing recommendations of his wonderful mgmt skills on LinkedIn. We all did because we had no choice.

So when I hit FI a couple of years ago, the first thing I did was to delete my recommendation of him on LinkedIn (he had already moved on from the company). Then I deleted him and all the other people I didn't like from my contact list and removed all the stupid endorsements both received and given. As many have already pointed out, it was quite therapeutic.

I will FIRE early next year but already I have removed all my work history, projects, skillset, etc. from my LinkedIn profile. I ignore all endorsements received and don't endorse or recommend anyone. I will change my title to "Retired" on the day I FIRE. Can't wait.

 

[clifp]

Still maintain a profile, update maybe 4 years ago. I get a request every month or two, and occasionally a fun email from somebody that I hadn't seen in ages.

 

[Dcharles]

Nope. When I retired, I retired.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[Sunset]

I have not done anything with LinkedIn, but folks suggestions sound pretty inspiring. Currently I get emails and maybe a weekly phone call for a job, all of which I ignore.
Really I had no idea what to do with it, as it is still a good way for old previous work buddies to look me up, which has happened.
Think I'll label myself as Consultant, after I turn off the notification things.

 

[athena53]

One other thought on LinkedIn: I'm finding it delightful to be able to say what I want in comments on articles. There's a lot of good writing on things companies do wrong ("Ten things not to say when you're firing someone") or that describe ideal situations that never exist in real companies, and now I can comment. I'm tactful, give factual examples but with no names, but if I offend someone, well, they're never going to see my resume so I don't care.

 

[martyp]

I was always a light user of Linkedin. When I ER'd I immediately added "retired" to my title. In the past couple of years I've put on a number of science classes for seniors and updated my Linkedin title to "Science Educator".

I mostly stayed on LI to potentially help former employees that I thought might get laid off in that first couple of years after I left due to some big changes in the organizations. Fortunately they all stay gainfully employed.