On social media platforms, we often present a curated persona of ourselves. Dan Kelsall, who is typically portrayed as boisterous on LinkedIn, is actually reflective in real life, highlighting the platform's reputation as the "Facebook for professionals."

The co-founder of Manchester-based marketing firm Offended ensures that his company lives up to its name in the online realm, with posts that stand out for their abundant use of profanity and unfiltered humor. Offended specializes in guerrilla marketing, which involves subverting traditional corporate messaging and polished branding. According to the irreverent Mr. Kelsall, "We don't just get our own ads banned, we get ads banned for our clients too."

With 900 million professionals worldwide listing their resumes and career accomplishments on the platform, LinkedIn has become a crucial resource for human resources departments and headhunters.

In the past few years, the tone of LinkedIn - once a reserved platform for career announcements and business launches - has undergone a transformation. Many posts have taken on a more personal nature, with members sharing stories about their childhood experiences and admitting their weaknesses and failures.

However, not everyone is pleased with this shift. Critics suggest that these types of posts are better suited to the informal atmosphere of Facebook or the brash tone of Twitter, rather than the more formal LinkedIn platform.

According to Mr. Kelsall, one of the reasons behind this change is boredom with conventional corporate marketing tactics. He used to work as a copywriter for a tax software company and was often tasked with producing dry and unexciting content. This experience provided him with an understanding of what engages readers.

Big brands are increasingly losing the trust of consumers, and people are becoming fatigued by uninteresting marketing.

The key is to communicate in a manner that resonates with your target audience and establishes a connection with them. I've been an active LinkedIn user for seven years and have amassed 66,000 followers, which indicates a highly engaged audience.

Parry Headrick, the founder of the Massachusetts-based public relations firm Crackle, credits LinkedIn for his entire client base. He shares personal stories on the platform, including details about his humble upbringing and his children's lives, which may not be to everyone's liking. However, Mr. Headrick believes that engaging content involves telling a compelling story, and that sharing personal insights into his life helps clients better understand him.

According to Mr. Headrick, the trend towards a more informal tone on LinkedIn is part of a broader shift away from traditional corporate language. Azadeh Williams, speaking from the Sydney office of her media and marketing company, AZK Media, believes that being authentic and genuine is crucial to attracting an audience. Ms. Williams shares updates about her six-year-old daughter, a topic she wouldn't have posted about a few years ago. However, with the intrusion of Zoom meetings into personal spaces during the pandemic, families have become more visible to colleagues and clients, adding an interesting and relatable dimension to their professional lives.

According to Azadeh Williams, the founder of media and marketing company AZK Media, many users of LinkedIn still view it as merely a digital job interview despite its evolution from being the home of CVs. Douglas Rode, who runs recruitment giant Page Group in the UK and Ireland, believes that LinkedIn's users have become more aware of people's vulnerabilities and that the platform has magnified this trend. However, there are differing views on whether users should share personal information on LinkedIn. While some experts, like Rode, suggest that it is a matter of individual choice, others like Tom Skinner of London marketing agency Go Up, see it as a symptom of celebrity culture and "a society that celebrates people who can self-publicize above all else". LinkedIn has a team of 200 people dedicated to creating stories that will attract attention and involvement, which is valuable for recruiting companies that pay for access to its members' CVs.

Dan Roth, the editorial director at LinkedIn's Silicon Valley headquarters, firmly denies any deliberate attempt to create controversy to attract readers. He explains that algorithms are used to determine the appropriate content for each user, but there is no attempt to push people in a certain direction.

He believes that the pandemic has contributed to the change in attitudes, with people receiving positive feedback when discussing their mental health. Unlike anonymous contributions on Twitter, he values the fact that LinkedIn users are identifiable. Nevertheless, despite having a public profile, many members are unaware of the potential for their stories to be cringe worthy.

Braden Wallake turned to LinkedIn when he laid off two employees at his Ohio Company in August 2022. He shared how "vulnerable" he felt when making this decision and even attached a tearful selfie. However, the first response to his post was a mocking "Muppet." He was later labeled "The Crying CEO" and became the poster child for what behavioural insights expert Helen Jambunathan calls the "LinkedIn cringe." Ms. Jambunathan claims that LinkedIn's algorithms encourage posts that provoke engagement, even if they dilute its origins as a recruitment platform. Research group Kekst CNC studied LinkedIn profiles of CEOs in the UK, US, Germany, and Sweden and noted that 77% of them post personal content. The platform's new, more casual tone seems to be acceptable, and the louder the criticisms, the more people listen, but Mr. Kelsall believes that having detractors is as important as having fans.