Sprechen ze talk?*

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People feel strongly about a certain holiday movie. And people feel strongly about a certain type of LinkedIn post. Of course, I have opinions.


Die Hard is a Christmas movie. Period.

 


The cheesiest form of posting on LinkedIn is broetry. C’mon, you know the kind of post I’m talking about. The brooding, dark one with the format that reads like a messed-up haiku. Lucky for you, they are easy to spot from a distance.

 

They are the type of post.

 

That don’t say much.

 

Yet require you to spend your life force.

 

Scrolling.

 

Down. Down.

 

Down.

 

😩

 

For the LinkedIn-adverse folks: Broetry is a mix between poetry and bro-speak. It is essentially poetry written by dudes in an attempt to sound cool and deep. And it is showing up all over the social site.

If broetry is so bothersome, why is it so popular on LinkedIn?

One possible reason? To hack the algorithm.

A few weeks ago, I offered a three-part webinar series, LinkedIn for Digital Influence. With each session, I discussed recent research on the algorithm and then, provided recommended actions to take as a result. (Alas, most firms in financial services are deploying a 5-year old strategy.)

Know this now: The broetry format of a one sentence followed by two paragraph returns, followed by a sentence, followed by two paragraph returns, followed by a sentence, etc. will not help you get eyes on your content.

For two reasons:

1. LinkedIn is on to that hack.
2. Dwell time isn’t as crucial as it was in 2021.

More importantly, I want to speak to the impact on your personal brand. Here are my two reasons:

Broetry offers little in the way of compelling content: No useful resources. No amazing insights. No thought leadership. Nothing but navel gazing and paragraph returns.

Using your connections as a ploy to help you win the attention of other people is straight up sleazy. Sleazy like the know-it-all dude in Die Hard who kept saying, “Am I Right? Am I Right?” and “Capiche.” You know that guy! The coked up, smarty pants, yuppy? His name was Harry Ellis.

 

My first holiday wish?

If you’re looking for a place to share a poem about your humble brag, your feelings, or how great you are? Go find a blog or something.

Seriously, stop with the broetry already. You kinda look like Harry Ellis.

Sprechen ze talk?*

If you need help with your LinkedIn strategy or want an on-fire 🔥 keynote presentation like, Shifts Happen: The Future of Marketing, hit reply. I’m just an email away.