Leaving LinkedIn-did you?

[Nick12]

I do not have an account but from time to time I still look up former friends or peers. A number of them have moved on to another job and some have passed away at an early age. Their accounts have not been updated.

 

[Col. Klink]

Another joyous event associated with my retirement was when I linked out!

 

[Badger]

I had it for awhile but it really wasn't useful for my career path so I canceled it to avoid more notices crowding my mail box. Like many social media, networking and contact sites there is just too much BS foolishness mixed in for something that was of no value to me.



Cheers!

 

[Closet_Gamer]

I am still working full time and have almost canceled mine.

It's essentially a festival of humble brag, self-indulgent public preening, laden with a blizzard of connection requests from sales people and recruiters seeking access to your network... with the occasional really thoughtful post or useful inquiry tossed in.

It's like picking through pistachio shells to find the one un-eaten nut at the bottom of the bowl.

How many times have we all read something like:

"So humbled and proud to be asked to speak at xyz useless event. It wouldn't have happened without the hard work of such a devoted team of co-workers...here's a link to my speaking event."

People who write that tripe should be banned from LinkedIn for life.

 

[Ronstar]

Had an account. I guess I still have one because I haven’t cancelled it. It’s been about 10 years since I’ve seen it.

 

[davebarnes]

As I reduce my working hours (now, about 1 hour per day), I am reducing my LinkedIn connections.
I peaked at 900 and now am at 100.
I will keep the connections to "kids" that I know so I can see how their careers are going.

 

[kcowan]

Still have it. I get messages saying John Smith has a work anniversary working for John Smith Consulting. Sometimes John Smith has died!

 

[Vincenzo Corleone]

I am still working full time and have almost canceled mine.

It's essentially a festival of humble brag, self-indulgent public preening, laden with a blizzard of connection requests from sales people and recruiters seeking access to your network... with the occasional really thoughtful post or useful inquiry tossed in.

It's like picking through pistachio shells to find the one un-eaten nut at the bottom of the bowl.

How many times have we all read something like:

"So humbled and proud to be asked to speak at xyz useless event. It wouldn't have happened without the hard work of such a devoted team of co-workers...here's a link to my speaking event."

People who write that tripe should be banned from LinkedIn for life.

+1

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I forgot to mention that I changed my employer to "retired" and my job title to "head bottle washer." I STILL get the occasional "do you want a job?" message. LOL

 

[SumDay]

I changed my profession to RETIRED, and will probably stay. There's a retiree/alumni group on LinkedIn for my former megacorp and it's interesting to stay in touch with the broader group, many of whom have gone on to do some pretty cool stuff in our line of work. And, it's a good way for people to reach you as so many aren't on Facebook anymore.

A few months ago a relatively young (58) former co-worker passed, and I was able to find everyone on LI to let them know. So, staying will keep me connected with news like that. Not that I like getting that kind of news...

 

[big-papa]

Sort of a weird topic, but for those who had an account on LinkedIn during your w**k years, once you retired did you close the account or maintain a presence?

I have been FIREd for 3 years now, but never removed my account. I feel like its the final step to "really" being retired. Almost like "maybe I will end up going back". Sounds silly I know, but I wonder if anyone experienced this?

For my former coworkers who have retired, I see about a 50/50 split between
1. Updated their profile to show they are retired
2. Neglected their profile - it shows them still working at their last place of employment and I still get the automated "Congratulate XYZ for 25 years at company zbf"

I only know of one person who completely removed his profile. He has almost no digital presence these days at all...

 

[Rex]

I updated to "consulting" when I RE'd in January.

Think I will give it a year and then re-evaluate/delete it.

 

[JoeWras]

For a few various reasons, I need to let the world know I am retired. So, I kept it and changed my status to retired. Eventually, I'll just delete it.

 

[CoolRich59]

I never really left LinkedIn because I was never really there.

It always struck me as a slightly more polished version of FaceBook. There was no interesting content, they incessantly pitched their premium service, and I got barraged with friend requests (or whatever LinkedIn calls them) from people I barely knew or didn’t know at all.

I rarely logged in. Once I retired, I just ignored it.

 

[mystang52]

I never saw much value in LinkedIn. I have 2 complaints about it"
1) Signing up with it is like being in the Mob. You can never leave, apparently.
I closed my LinkedIn years ago, and I still get emails from them telling me that 2 people searched my profile, or did I want to connect with someone, etc.
2) When my account was active, it was often like a nagging spouse. I occasionally got an email that someone wanted to connect with me. A couple of times it would be with someone who either disliked me, or I disliked that person. LinkedIn would send me nagging reminders if I didn't respond.

 

[Scuba]

I’m still on LinkedIn. I mentor university students and use it to connect and keep in touch with them. I did change my status.

 

[Starsky]

I thought about killing my account, but instead just changed my work status to "retired" and posted a non-work photo and message on Linkedin thanking my mentors and co-workers and left up my contact info. It's been a great way to stay in touch with some of my favorite associates and ex-employees and keep track of their career progress.

 

[Midpack]

I closed my LinkedIn account shortly after I retired, don’t miss it.

 

[Christine]

Stopped working gradually because of becoming disabled. Kept my account since I might start working again if health improved. It did not. And I forgot all about it.


But recently LinkedIn has started spamming me. So one of these days when I can be bothered I'll dig out my password and close it.

 

[LastOfTheBoomers]

I’m getting close to closing mine - my plan is to change my title to “I will be closing this account on xxx date - please follow me on Twitter @xxx “

 

[jollystomper]

I consider it the "sanest" and "calmest" of the social media vehicles, so I am keeping mine. I have been able to connect my connections together several times for specific situations, and that has been appreciated. I also enjoy seeing what job offers I get (though unless they have VERY particularly parameters I would not be interested), some of those I have passed on to my contacts and it has helped them.

 

[ziggy29]

Still there for me. Mostly inertia. I often forget it's even there. I get very little notification from it. I suppose on the off chance I need to contact someone, or if someone I knew and respected wanted to use me as a reference, it's not hurting anything to keep it going.

 

[RobbieB]

I never looked at it when I was working.

 

[irishgal]

I am still working full time and have almost canceled mine.

It's essentially a festival of humble brag, self-indulgent public preening, laden with a blizzard of connection requests from sales people and recruiters seeking access to your network... with the occasional really thoughtful post or useful inquiry tossed in.

It's like picking through pistachio shells to find the one un-eaten nut at the bottom of the bowl.

How many times have we all read something like:

"So humbled and proud to be asked to speak at xyz useless event. It wouldn't have happened without the hard work of such a devoted team of co-workers...here's a link to my speaking event."

People who write that tripe should be banned from LinkedIn for life.

You really nailed it!!

 

[GreatLaker]

It was used a lot where I w*rked. A former colleague that I lost touch with recently reached out to me as his retirement is impending. And there are a few old w*rk associates I keep in touch with so it's worth keeping the account even though I rarely access it.

I loved the comments by Closet_Gamer. They are quoted just above this message so I won't waste electrons by quoting them again. Where I w*rked people would quote or link to articles without even making a comment. Most of them were just plebes gratuitously trying to get their name out in the social media consciousness stream.

My j*b was in marketing and our social media marketing manager actually subscribed to some service that had a stream of suposably relevant articles we were encouraged to post on LinkedIn and/or Twitter. You could even schedule posts and they told us what times were best to post to get the most views.

I had planned to update my j*b title to something like CEO (Chief Enjoyment Officer) at Layback and Seemore. Laying back, seeing more, smiling a lot. But somehow in the 2 years since I retired it has not made it anywhere near the top of the todo list.