I finally decided to end my bad LinkedIn habit and get back to writing on my own self-hosted blog.

These are my thoughts that led to this decision.

First of all, LinkedIn is in the late stages of the enshittification cycle.

Being on LinkedIn felt stressful and unhealthy. Its algorithmic feed felt like I was being force-fed low-nutrient, high-sugar content. I realised that there are many, many things I HATE about LinkedIn and none that I actually love. I could rant about it for quite a while, but I don’t feel the need. We all know how shitty it is.

There have been decisions in my life that had a great positive impact on its quality. Quitting smoking. Canceling TV. Starting running four times a week. Stopping watching the news.

One of the few bad habits I still have is regularly checking the LinkedIn newsfeed. I guess I could call it a ‘guilty pleasure’, but that’s only partly correct. It’s addictive and lately there is not much pleasure left in it.

I see exactly zero reasons to stay, so I’m leaving and changing things.

I used to write blogs about trading a decade ago. That was a great way to align my thoughts and create clarity. It was truly enjoyable.

Starting this blog (and its adjacent ones, more on that later) is the beginning of something new, and hopefully a couple of good habits to replace the bad ones.

This will be different from now on

  • I’ll be writing to align my thoughts, about stuff that matters to me, not to please a ranking algorithm.
  • I’ll be writing to maintain and improve my writing skills, not to impress others or promote myself. I predict that being able to write well without relying on AI will become a rare and valuable skill.
  • No ads, no promoted posts, no algorithmic feeds.
  • No likes, no public comments. I love feedback, and email works great for that.
  • LinkedIn will become my online resume. It’s pretty decent for that, but that’s it. Maybe an occasional visit and comment, like the occasional cigarette some ex-smokers still allow themselves. But no daily scrolling and posting. I really want to quit.
  • For my own reading, I’ll use hand-picked RSS feeds from blogs that excel in quality. Reading just one post a day that triggers something positive in me or provides a fresh perspective feels better than ingesting an hour of slop on LinkedIn.

I’m sure this will have a positive effect on me, and I hope this blog will be of value to others. But if not, that’s fine too.