Elon Musk has thrown down the gauntlet with his plans to launch a challenging platform to rival LinkedIn, aiming to inject a hip and ‘less tiresome’ vibe into professional networking for those who deem LinkedIn passé—or something along those lines.
It’s hard to avoid mentioning Elon Musk week after week, but the headlines keep coming. Through a conspicuous post, the mind behind Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI unveiled his vision to rival LinkedIn by integrating employment opportunities into X (previously known as Twitter).
Always one to stir up buzz, Musk explained to his audience that he finds LinkedIn intolerable due to its ‘high cringe level’. This suggests that Musk perceives his cool quotient as superior. Take that as you will, Elon.
In his message, Musk also proposed that his LinkedIn alternative under X will be ‘hip’. What that will look like is anyone’s guess.
Maybe Musk’s version of hip implies giving his employment site a somber, mysterious makeover similar to the recent design tweaks to the X logo. Or perhaps it involves encouraging job seekers to express interest through trending GIFs or memes. It’s likely LinkedIn’s CEO, Ryan Roslansky, is taking notice now.
If you suspect Musk’s vision might not materialize, consider this: X is already amassing detailed biometric profiles, collecting information on users’ employment and academic backgrounds.
Although part of this endeavor is to tailor advertising to users, Musk likely has a more inventive application in mind for the collected data.
The necessity for a ‘hip’ job platform might be puzzling. Potentially, Musk is targeting the youth who view LinkedIn as yesterday’s news. Regardless, it remains uncertain if Musk’s innovative project will pose a significant challenge to LinkedIn’s dominance as the year 2023 progresses.
