Not that long ago, LinkedIn felt like a sea of corporate announcements, humblebrags and carefully polished professional updates.
Now, the content that’s really engaging is different.
People want to know who they’re doing business with. They want personality, perspective and a glimpse of the human behind the job title.
Being more yourself on LinkedIn isn’t unprofessional. It’s often what makes people stop scrolling in the first place.
There’s certainly merit in being polished, professional and perfectly buttoned-up on LinkedIn, but what most people really want to know is, who are you?
Here’s why we’re encouraging more business owners and leaders to show up as themselves on LinkedIn.
The audience has changed
LinkedIn isn’t just a platform for senior executives and recruiters anymore.
A younger generation of professionals has entered the room. People who have grown up with social media woven into the fabric of everyday life. Instagram. TikTok. YouTube. Creating content, sharing experiences, and capturing ideas that are personal, and meaningful.
For them, communicating online in a personal and authentic way is normal. They expect to see the people behind the businesses they engage with. They want personality, perspectives, and real people to engage with.
LinkedIn is a social media platform. So be social.
It’s amazing how many people forget this. LinkedIn isn’t just a broadcasting platform for company updates, sales messages and corporate jargon. It’s a place to build relationships.
The people who tend to do best on LinkedIn aren’t necessarily the loudest or the most polished. They’re the ones having genuine conversations, sharing honest experiences and engaging with others in a meaningful way.
People connect with people. And the easiest way to make genuine human connections is to show up as a genuine human yourself.
Your personal brand is one of your biggest business assets
Whether you realise it or not, people are already forming opinions about you.
Your LinkedIn profile, your content, your comments and your interactions all contribute to your personal brand.
When you’re open about your values, your story, your experiences and the things you care about, people quickly get a sense of who you are.
And that matters, because people buy from people they know, like and trust.
The more consistently you show up as yourself, the easier it becomes for the right people to find you, connect with you and remember you.
And those meaningful interactions often lead to something much more valuable than a few extra likes, they lead to real relationships.
Video helps people get to know the real you
If you’ve been avoiding video, this might be your sign to give it a go.
LinkedIn continues to invest heavily in video content, and the platform rewards content that keeps people watching and engaging. Native video typically generates higher engagement than many other content formats because it captures attention and increases ‘dwell’ time spent on the platform.
But the bigger opportunity isn’t the algorithm, it’s the human connection.
A video of you sharing your thoughts, expertise, lessons learned, observations from an event, or simply what’s happening in your world gives people a far richer sense of who you are than a carefully crafted text post ever could.
They hear your voice, see your personality, and get a feel for what it would actually be like to work with you.
It doesn’t need to be perfectly filmed, professionally edited or shot in a fancy studio. In fact, sometimes the less polished videos perform best.
People are using LinkedIn outside work hours, too
For years, the advice was simple: post during the working week.
And while Tuesday to Thursday still tend to be strong days for engagement, behaviour on the platform is evolving.
We’re increasingly seeing activity during evenings and weekends too, particularly on Sunday mornings when many people are planning their week, catching up on content and looking for inspiration.
That tells us something important – people aren’t just using LinkedIn because they have to, but because they want to.
Those using it on the weekend also tend to be more intentional about the content they’re consuming and the relationships they’re making. Being on LinkedIn on a weekend is a choice and they’re making the most of it.
Final thoughts
We’re not suggesting you post your breakfast. Unless, of course, it’s a particularly meaningful one!
But if you’ve got a story, an opinion or a lesson worth sharing, don’t hide behind the logo. Or worry about looking perfectly professional all the time.
Share the lessons, the wins, and even the occasional wobbles, because that’s the stuff that REALLY gets our attention.
In a world full of carefully curated corporate content, being genuinely yourself is often the thing that stands out most.
If you’d like a little help getting started, we’ve put together a LinkedIn Cheat Sheet packed with practical tips to help you show up with more confidence and consistency.
And if you’d like something a little more tailored, we also offer complimentary LinkedIn reviews with actionable advice on how to make your profile work harder for you.