The Fine Line Between Building Your Brand and Overposting

Let’s address the elephant in the room: we’ve all seen those LinkedIn posts that make us cringe.  The airport selfies captioned “Big things coming!”  The vague “thought leadership” walks by the river.  The gushing praise for someone you’ve never heard of.  In our quest to build our professional brands, have we lost the plot?

At Zinger, we teach recruiters to develop a strategic social media presence-one that balances visibility with credibility.  The key question isn’t just what you’re posting, but why?  Before hitting publish, ask yourself:

·       Does this align with my professional goals?

·       Does it reinforce (or undermine) how I want to be perceived?

Some posts clearly miss the mark.  The “lessons from my cat” updates.  The hyperbolic praise for random connections, with more superlatives than a verse from Dickens.  The contradictory messaging about work-life balance versus hustle culture.  These don’t build your brand – they dilute it.

Is there a solution?  Intentionality.

·       Quality over quantity.  One insightful post beats five forced updates.

·       Authenticity over performance.  People connect more with real perspectives, not  recycled platitudes.

·       Consistency over spikes.  A steady rhythm of valuable content works better than distracting bursts that monopolise feeds.

In our enthusiasm for self-marketing, we’ve perhaps lost perspective. Could we:

·       Celebrate real wins?

·       Engage meaningfully?

·       And maybe—just maybe—skip the airport selfies?

What’s your biggest LinkedIn pet peeve?  Share your thoughts below – let’s start a real conversation. 😃