I’m the type of person to have a very intense fixation on a certain topic for about a month, then move on to the next thing. One moment it’s lost media, the next it’s Littlest Pet Shop. Last semester, I found myself falling into a deep LinkedIn rabbit hole, and when I climbed out, I had an internship.
Wow… Unlike some of my other obsessions, I’m lucky that one didn’t cause any issues, or really, that it didn’t drain my bank account. In fact, this one got me a position that can help my career in the long run. Yet now that I have the job, why do I still have the urge to continue scrolling on LinkedIn?
As college students, we’re constantly under pressure to prep for the “real world,” whether that be through joining dozens of clubs, applying for internships, or building up your LinkedIn profile.
In a world where everyone is on their phones comparing themselves to each other, social media platforms like Instagram catch all the heat for “being toxic” or the source of unfair comparisons. But is that the truth of the matter? When I scroll on Instagram, subconsciously I know that the people posting probably studied photos upon photos to curate the perfect collection of images for their carousel post. Meanwhile on LinkedIn, the platform presents the cold, hard, facts of my peers. The basics of what they studied in school, their grades, their jobs, and how dedicated they are to their career.
I’ll confess, growing up I was the type of person to snoop in my aunt’s pantry or medicine cabinet, so now as (somewhat) of an adult, no matter who I meet, I look them up on LinkedIn. At first, it started as pure interest, but over time, it developed into a way of comparing myself to others. “Wow, look at her. They’re a Junior now and have like five different internships” or “That’s a nice job, how could they have possibly landed that in their freshmen year,” are all things I find myself thinking when scrolling on LinkedIn.
Doomscrolling, the act of scrolling through social media to read large quantities of negative news, has been studied numerous times in the past few years, which shows a direct correlation between doomscrolling and a decline to the user’s mental and physical health. Knowing this, I still actively catch myself doom scrolling, but rather than obsessing over straight news, it’s on LinkedIn.
“While bragging on Instagram and Twitter is easily mocked, on LinkedIn, a flashy job update is unquestionably acceptable, expected even,” writes Shannon Palus and Heather Schwedel with Slate. “Culture at large sends a message that it’s bad to want social media popularity and the trappings thereof, but it’s not bad to want a cool job—that’s ambition, right? And yet, for us, LinkedIn has come to feel just as toxic as the rest of the social networks.”
When I first started college, I found myself laughing at people posting on LinkedIn and caring about their resume, but now, I am that person. In my head, I’ve built up LinkedIn to be the place where I can find jobs, but also maybe show off my experiences to my whole 30 connections.
Mostly, I’ve been documenting my own trials and tribulations with an ongoing toxic-relationship with LinkedIn, but others feel similarly. “I feel pressure to have a detailed LinkedIn. It feels like curating the perfect Instagram feed,” explains Kande DaCosta, a Junior at USFSP, studying Finance and Political Science. “Doomscrolling on LinkedIn is like any other social media. You can see your peers and others posting all their achievements and be happy for them, but in the same breath feel ‘unworthy.’ You feel as though your accomplishments aren’t enough.”
A study from the University of Florida further emphasized these feelings about doomscrolling in general. The team documented the “effects of doomscrolling, including anxiety, stress, uncertainty, confirmation bias, and self-control.” Further emphasizing the dangerous rabbit hole of doomscrolling. The study even wrote further that young people were a lot more susceptible to doomscrolling than older people.
As college students are filled with pressure to prepare for the workplace, while also managing their grades, scrolling on social media can start as a way of escapism from the real world. But over time, that can develop into something more serious, like doomscrolling, social media overconsumption, or addiction. Even on unlikely platforms, like LinkedIn.
“As a college student there is [the pressure to have a detailed resume and LinkedIn]. Everyone wants to get top internships and have great jobs lined up after graduation and if I don’t a small part of me feels as though I didn’t try hard enough,” continues DaCosta.
While at its core, LinkedIn is just a job-searching platform, it has developed into something more. In a digital age, it’s easy to become “addicted” to any platform online, yet there’s another level to become so obsessive over a platform that’s essentially just your resume. Everything must be used in moderation to have a healthy relationship, including LinkedIn.
“People do recognize their behavior; that maybe they are consuming too much negative news, and they put in measures to opt out of that,” says University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Advertising, Assistant Professor, Benjamin Johnson, who conducted the previously mentioned study. “They become self-aware that ‘this is making me feel bad,’ and they can work to form new media habits.”
While I try my best, I continue to struggle with doomscrolling on LinkedIn. Personally, I feel the pressure to have as much experience as possible, and to have a lengthy LinkedIn and resume. I’m still figuring it out, but I’m trying to be more conscious of my social media intake and not letting it get to me.