I was talking to this girl who was in one of my online (at that point) classes. She didn’t want to “connect” via Facebook or Insta, but she really, really wanted my number…
From the way she spoke, and acted, and the sheer enthusiasm for everything, I assumed she must have been young, or, at least, younger than me…
I thought this a bit “mysterious”, so I tried to find her. The only place I could? LinkedIn. And fuck, what a LinkedIn…
I had never seen anything like it. It’s full of wokeness (pronouns, flags, “sovereignty never ceded”, “women in STEM”, Indigenous place names, and the most… Self-aggrandizing stuff I have seen on there for years)…
But not only that, she even has her own website… Where she posts her “work”, and also photos of herself, always wearing a suitably woke facemask, or facing away from the camera…
Even on her LinkedIn, it’s absolutely packed with photos and videos, but none of them directly show her face. That, combined with a list of achievements stretching back a decade that are really… Unusual for someone apparently without a degree (Executive Assistant to the Dean, CEO of an environmental org, etc.), just… Really weirded me out.
And yet, despite all this bullshit, she has less “Connections” on there than me (noting that I put zero effort into that place), barely has a “network”, and apparently spends all her time doing volunteer, unpaid work, for which she gets awards (and apparently “tops her class”), but apparently doesn’t actually have any evidence of a paid job, at the same time…
Anyway, I’ve seen this kind of thing before, generally from women. The kind of girl who only has paid, professional headshots on her Facebook. I always found that odd. That and all the “professional” bragging…
I just find it really weird. I suppose it is an extension of Instagram “hustle” culture, but professionalized… Though fuck, at least they attempt to look pretty, on Insta…
But yeah, I just don’t get it. I’ve truly never really understood this. Maybe it’s the depression. Maybe it’s the low self-esteem. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve achieved fuck all, in years. But I’ve never been the type of person who would hype myself up like that, on LinkedIn or whatever. If, by some miracle, I topped a class/assignment again, I really don’t think I would tell anyone much, let alone post about it!
Anyway, I just think this is a little sad, frankly. It makes me feel (much) worse, but it also makes this girl look like a complete narc, if nothing else…
Thoughts?
I realise that this is merely a symptom of current culture, but I hate it. I really do.
I've seen it a bit. People trying to be the next big name in tech, but can't find the any key. It's been common in many of the fields I've studied.
Ngl, I was initially very confused, there, with what you just said, ahaha... Took me a minute! Simpson's reference, or legit? Lol.
But yeah, STEM seems to be full of this (see the quote from her LinkedIn that I pulled out above)... Both tech, as you mention, and my area, bio and related fields...
Or the girl who claims to speak Spanish fluently, but can't even actually converse with you, when push comes to shove..?
In this case, someone who says "I like chemicals because they're pretty", and then claims to have assignment marks of 99/100..? It just doesn't add up, lol...
Then again, I can write quite well, and yet I suck balls at "doing the Uni", so... I dunno.
Marks are certainly one measure of intelligence, and I don't deny that I'm probably not as intelligent as someone who functions better in this area, but it is increasingly apparent to me now that there is more at play here than just intelligence...
If you're organised, are good at jumping through hoops, and are self-motivated, you'll likely do rather well at Uni. For whatever reason I'm not, so I struggle, and I don't get the marks, even though, like, I might actually "know" more about the subject area in question than some of my more "successful" peers...
Anyway, I'll shut up. Life's fucking frustrating right now, though, and I really wish I had this shit figured out a decade ago. Now it almost feels too late, frankly...