The Overdramatic World of Designer LinkedIn: A Personal Rant
Ever scrolled through LinkedIn and felt like you’ve stepped into a theater of the absurd? Personally, I think LinkedIn has morphed into a stage where designers—people who, ironically, are paid to simplify communication—have mastered the art of overcomplicating it. What makes this particularly fascinating is how a platform meant for professional clarity has become a breeding ground for hyperbolic jargon and faux urgency. Let’s dive in.
The False Urgency Epidemic
One thing that immediately stands out is the obsession with phrases like ‘This changes everything’ or ‘Adapt or die.’ From my perspective, these aren’t just clichés—they’re cries for attention disguised as profound insights. Take the Figma update or a logo rebrand, for instance. Are they significant? Sure. But do they warrant apocalyptic language? Absolutely not. What many people don’t realize is that design has always evolved; it’s the nature of the field. Framing every minor shift as a ‘wake-up call’ isn’t just dramatic—it’s exhausting. If you take a step back and think about it, this trend reflects a deeper cultural need to feel like we’re living in unprecedented times, even when we’re not.
The AI Overload
Then there’s the AI discourse, which has become the ‘quiet quitting’ of the design world—everyone’s talking about it, but few are saying anything new. Phrases like ‘AI is already here’ or ‘You’ll be replaced by someone who uses AI’ are so overused they’ve lost all meaning. What this really suggests is that designers are grappling with fear, not facts. In my opinion, the panic around AI is less about the technology itself and more about our collective anxiety over relevance. A detail that I find especially interesting is how quickly we’ve gone from ‘AI will replace us’ to ‘AI is just a tool’—a whiplash-inducing shift that says more about us than the tech.
The Rhetorical Landfill
LinkedIn posts are also drowning in what I call rhetorical landfill—phrases that add zero value but take up all the space. ‘Let that sink in,’ ‘The real question is,’ ‘Read that again’—these aren’t invitations to think; they’re commands to perform. What’s worse is the single-word paragraph trend, which treats every word like a dramatic reveal. It’s not profound; it’s just annoying. This raises a deeper question: Why do we feel the need to inflate our ideas with empty language? Is it insecurity, or just a lack of confidence in the idea itself?
The Humblebrag Paradox
Another trend that grinds my gears is the ‘I’m no longer gatekeeping’ humblebrag. Let’s be honest: most of us were never gatekeepers to begin with. This faux humility is a thinly veiled attempt to position oneself as an authority, and it’s transparent. What’s truly ironic is that designers, who pride themselves on authenticity, are often the ones perpetuating this inauthenticity. If you’re going to share knowledge, just share it—don’t wrap it in a ‘look at me, I’m so generous’ bow.
The Bigger Picture
If you ask me, the real issue here isn’t the phrases themselves but what they reveal about our professional culture. LinkedIn has become a performance space where clarity is sacrificed for clout, and substance is buried under layers of drama. This isn’t just a design problem; it’s a human problem. We’re so afraid of being ignored that we’ve turned every post into a desperate bid for attention. But here’s the thing: authenticity doesn’t need drama. A well-crafted idea stands on its own.
My Takeaway
So, what’s the solution? Personally, I think we need to reclaim simplicity. Strip away the noise, ditch the hyperbole, and focus on what matters. After all, design is about solving problems, not creating them. If we can’t communicate clearly on a platform meant for professionals, what does that say about us? Let’s stop performing and start connecting. Because, in the end, that’s what LinkedIn—and design—should be about.
