LinkedIn Accused Me of Hate Speech. (Can you help me find it?)
In other news…I will be leaving LinkedIn.
Here are the notices I received, by email and online:
Excuse me?
Where exactly is the “hateful speech”?
Was it the phrase “shrieking harridans on Tik-Tok”?
Was it the critical comments toward women? (We know it cannot be the equally critical comments toward men, since men are totally fair game these days.)
Was it using the word “stupid” repeatedly?
Was it the covid stuff? Where exactly is the ‘hate’ there?
Help me out here. I really am not sure.
I do not care that this was an automated system. They set up that system to “catch” a post like mine, which has no hate in it. They and their automated system can get wrecked.
I will be leaving LinkedIn.
But…but but…without a LinkedIn profile, how will you get a job?
—Said no one ever.
Okay, that is probably not true. I imagine there may be some potential employers out there who consider the absence of a LinkedIn profile to be automatically disqualifying.
Frankly, those employers can get wrecked too. I do not want anything to do with anyone who requires me to remain a member of a place like LinkedIn. Whatever standards they are applying are not normal, rational human standards. And I am a rational human.
And no, I will not be submitting an appeal. One strike and you’re out. The very word “Submit” makes my skin crawl.
As it happens, I have been thinking about leaving other social media venues for quite some time. Substack was an amazing place before they added Notes. I find myself not wanting to be anywhere else.
And now, Notes has added a genuine social media venue to an already terrific place. A place that does not censor you or use creepy algorithms to shadow-censor you. A place that isn’t listening in on your conversations, either to ban you or to sell your data to advertisers.
The more I think about it, the more I wonder why I am staying anywhere else. I think it may be time to leave other venues where I have profiles.
I will start with LinkedIn, though.
That said, I do not just want to leave. I want to bring people with me. I want to tell them about Notes. I want to tell them there’s a better way. And of course I want them to subscribe to me here at the Freedom Scale.
Maybe you could help me craft a note that I can pin for a few weeks, or possibly something to send to my connections via LinkedIn’s messaging system. Thinking off the top of my head, how about something like this…
I am leaving linkedIn. They accused me of “hateful speech” for a perfectly normal article. I’m done. One strike and they’re out.
I will not appeal. I do not want anything to do with people like this.
Unless you absolutely positively must be here for your job, why would anyone stay? Especially when better options exist. (And are you SURE you have to be here for your job?)
In case you have not yet heard, Substack has become an amazing place. They do not censor you. They do not shadow-censor you. They do not sell your data. They do not monitor your every word looking for ThoughtCrime and disapproved speech.
And it’s not just for publishers—they have a new social media venue called Notes, and it’s brilliant. No algorithmic manipulation. None of the hateful grind you find on X. Just great interactions with intelligent people. Even people who strongly disagree have civil conversations there. Imagine that.
And no, I don’t work for Substack. But it truly is an amazing place. Until you’ve tried it for yourself, it’s hard to imagine that any social media could be that good. But it is!
Frankly, I think I will eventually leave the other social media venues as well…
In 2015, Facebook began destroying the primary marketing strategy of a site I was running, eventually costing me a great job. When they are not banning you outright, they are secretly throttling your reach. They tell you what you may and may not say in Facebook groups—even private ones with members who choose to be there. Oh, and make no mistake—they are monitoring everything you say in Messenger. That has been proved.
They hate me, and everyone like me. Why am I staying there?
And for that matter, why are you? They hate you too.
Instagram is run by the same people, in the same way. Why stay?
Twitter/X, contrary to what they claim, is still censoring people. Not as much as under Dorsey, but it is still happening. Musk hired a woman from the WEF to run the place, for goodness sake! (What is that all about?)
Plus, Twitter is a constant, high-stress grind of extremely rude people who feel liberated from every normal form of civility. Yuck.
X is actually heavily censoring me. I watched it happen almost in real time—my followers were going up, up, up (to over 12K) and then suddenly my reach cratered. Do they think I am stupid?
Why am I staying there? Why are you?
Trust me when I tell you, you won’t regret leaving other venues and relocating to Substack. Try Notes, and while you’re there, subscribe to my stack. It’s free, and we have a great time.
It will take me time to implement my departure from this and the other social media venues. I want to give it time to get this message out and see if I can convince y’all to join me.
Seriously. It is sooooo much better.
And if you do take my advice, please let me know so I can congratulate you and find you there!
What do y’all think? Does that work?
You know why. You don't belong there, and they don't want your kind influencing the drones.
Good riddance.
I spent my whole 30 year IT career not fitting in. Was never invited to play golf or go drinking lol. Not that I wanted to.
Now I understand why. And I'm glad that I didn't overly contort myself to be something I wasn't.
Though it was disconcerting at the time.
What is your objective in pinning that proposed message? Is it to vent at the raging, growing censorship regime? Or is it to draw in minds to your presentation of ideas that your LinkedIn connections don't already get?
If it is the former I believe you have crafted a message that will do that. If it's the latter I offer up this suggestion to shorten it, avoid the larger scale assessment of the thought cage social media is, and invite people to experience a free speech environment where forbidden fruit ideas are deliciously discussed, expanded, where knowledge is gained and the resulting power is acquired. Entice. With positivity. Make Substack tempting to them, irresistible. Not a place where us 'angry' people find each other.
Just a thought. But define your objective and review your message to see if it will help you achieve it in those minds open to learning what you have to share.