Field note · Friday, May 22, 2026
LinkedIn has quietly become full-time corporate cosplay
A lot of professionals are unintentionally flattening their personalities trying to sound “valuable” online.
The story
You can almost predict the structure now. “Here are 5 lessons…” “Most people dont realize…” “Unpopular opinion…” Even genuine people slowly start sounding algorithmically assembled after enough time on LinkedIn. The funny part is the posts people remember later are usually messier: oddly specific stories failures explained honestly niche operational details emotionally uncomfortable moments Not because audiences love vulnerability. Because specificity feels human. Professionalism is useful. But once content becomes too optimized, readers stop sensing an actual person behind it.
