LinkedIn is a depressing place

Going viral is an insane way to try and find a job

Here’s a quick story. I saw a man on LinkedIn who posted about wanting to find a job, in such a way it would hopefully go viral. And the algorithmic gods smiled upon him and decided to amplify his plea to 8 million users on the site.

Success in the “attention economy,” or so it would seem. And in the spirit of this economy, he did the inevitable follow-up a bit after: a post about the post, an engagement ouroboros. That’s the only reason I knew his first post went viral and its reach, my guy even took a victory lap.

Then came the inevitable question in the comments: “so, did you get a job?”

His answer: “time will tell.”

Which shows how ridiculous an exercise going viral is for something like this.

People still believe that the internet is about raw attention. That if you can just get enough eyeballs on your thing: your resume, your startup, your art, your opinion, everything else will sort itself out. This is a profound misunderstanding. Anyone who ran any type of content-based site in the Digg days knows the bounce rate of such things is >99%. We’ve played this game and learned its lessons over a decade ago.

Attention is easy to get. 15 year olds get plenty of attention on TikTok every day. It’s fast and cheap. Viral attention is also not worth very much, rounding to 0. Want a million people to notice you? Jump into the internet’s bloodstream with something insane or provocatively absurd. Or just copy a meme that already went viral in one place somewhere else (people do this all the time, there’s ways to systematize it meme pages exploit for ad revenue from Twitter/X). Play the game right, and you might just win a big, fleeting jackpot of views, likes, and shares (cheap dopamine). But note this is a stupid game, with stupid prizes. It boils down to debasing yourself for the spectacle.

The hard thing, the actually useful thing, is trust. And trust is the antithesis of virality. Trust is the slow, unsexy accretion of reputation. It’s built in quiet spaces from people you develop a relationship with, demonstrate competence to over time, connect with carefully and provide a reason to believe in you. To have trust means individuals who will put their own name on the line to help you. Developing this takes years, not days. It requires the consistent, difficult work of showing up. Similar to going to the gym.

Which is why the job-seeker’s viral moment might amount to nothing. Or maybe something. But the “something” isn’t a guarantee. It’s a slot machine pull. Maybe he gets lucky and someone in the millions of people who saw his post happens to have an opening, happens to be hiring for exactly his skill set, happens to be the rare kind of person who acts on a viral post instead of just hitting the “like” button and moving on. It’s all very silly people’s use of the internet has been reduced to this, by the way.

But winners don’t play slot machines, or if they do, not with their life. They don’t depend on the luck of algorithms. They cultivate trust and relationships. They build a network of people who actually get to know them, who, when the time comes, will move mountains on their behalf. Not because of a viral post, but because they care and know that assistance will improve not just their friend’s life, but the world.

I hope this man finds a job. I really do. But if you’re looking for work or to sell anything, why bet your future on the fickle whims of algorithmic feeds? The better bet is a handful of real relationships and connections grown slowly over time. No virality required.