February 5, 2026·
post
Touchy topic. And yes, this might be a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Touchy topic. And yes, this might be a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.
A lot of people are unknowingly outsourcing validation to LinkedIn.
When a post gets 50 (500? 5,000? take your pick) reactions instead of the usual 2-5, you can easily slip into believing that the thinking was 10× better.
Often, it wasn’t.
What actually happens is:
- Certain groups reliably engage with certain other groups.
- Proximity to “successful” people creates the feeling of success by osmosis.
Then there’s the big-number-in-the-sky metric: impressions.
The number that looks important, feels objective, and flatters almost everyone by how big it is.
Another common pattern in such people: frequency.
- Posting regularly trains the algorithm.
- Insight becomes output. (Hello, capitalism.)
- Reflection becomes content.
An internal PR agency takes control.
Thoughts aren’t shared because they’re ready.
They’re shared because something happened and it needs to be shaped into a post that fits the calendar.
It doesn't necessarily make someone dishonest.
It just quietly shifts the incentive.
The risk isn’t low quality thinking, or visibility masquerading as depth (that's audience's problem).
It’s mistaking engagement as signals of clarity and growth.
Have a thought or correction? Reach out on LinkedIn.
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