Being randomly approached on LinkedIn has long been a reliable sign that someone wanted to sell you something, whether that be an event, a job, or some kind of software. Now, apparently, people are trying to sell you a more exciting opportunity: a date.
A friend of mine was recently approached on LinkedIn by a representative from ‘a startup that raises money for charity through matchmaking’ (the language is a clear attempt to abide by LinkedIn’s strict no romance guidelines). According to the matchmaker, my friend and her client had a lot in common on account of being both ‘international’ and ‘highly educated’. Destiny, clearly. My friend need not be worried about the prospect of meeting up with a random man from the internet, however, because this equally random account knows her client ‘very well’ and ‘can vouch’ that he is both ‘highly intelligent’ and ‘gentle’.
Unfortunately, this love story for the ages was not meant to be. While my friend may well be this mystery man’s perfect partner on paper, her LinkedIn profile was unable to convey one crucial detail: she is a lesbian. An international and highly educated woman has beaten him to the prize. Much like Lord Sugar’s search for an apprentice, this man’s quest for a charitably acquired perfect match continues.
While this story might, quite rightly, baffle you, there are actually growing reports of LinkedIn becoming the place to find love, as young singles grow weary, and increasingly wary, of dating apps. One US-based survey found that a quarter of professionals think using LinkedIn for dating can be acceptable, with 20 per cent admitting to using it to scope out future partners, and one in eight saying their love story actually started on the platform. Perhaps they are onto something.
LinkedIn certainly has some strengths that the likes of Tinder do not. Firstly, there is a greater likelihood that the person behind the profile actually exists. Always handy. But a LinkedIn profile also provides important insights that many would steer clear of highlighting on a dating profile or indeed probing a potential match on, such as their ability to hold down a job, let alone their career progression or personal ambition.
LinkedIn unlocks a treasure trove of random people to peruse
In its own peculiar way, LinkedIn love could be a sign of the times. Even just a generation ago, finding love at work, whether that be for the night or forever, was par for the course. Your eyes could meet across a long boardroom table or you could give one another a knowing look at the Christmas party. Research, backed up by anecdotes from friends in the dating wilderness, both suggest that such encounters are waning. The chances of meeting your soulmate at work are declining with each passing generation. There are many reasons that this might be. For one, the concepts of working from home and remote working have gone from fringe to mainstream in the blink of an eye. With it, the opportunities to strike a conversation at the coffee machine or share knowing looks about an annoying manager have disappeared with it.
At the same time, in the post-MeToo age, asking your coworker on a date is deemed a highly risky strategy, with the threat of an HR complaint looming large. Ethical quandaries are a bit of a mood killer, after all. Together, they have removed a potential pool of suitors altogether and driven more young people into the arms of yet another app. But these dating apps don’t seem to be working. The human connection is missing from the process and the sense that you are just one slab of steak in a digital meat market looms large.
While it might not let you swipe right, searching for something on LinkedIn, on the other hand, unlocks a treasure trove of random people to peruse. One might recently have been promoted, another could have interesting thoughts on a new report you’ve read, and another might be promoting an upcoming event. All are good enough reasons to click ‘connect.’
The randomness of these digital encounters replicates at least some small part of the old ways of working. You can meet someone without setting out to meet them, through a shared interest, a mutual contact or simply an interesting post. With networking being its very raison d’être, LinkedIn, oddly enough, might help to restore some of the humanity of dating.
At the end of the day, while a dating app might tell you if someone likes walking along sandy beaches, a LinkedIn post tells you what those beaches taught you about B2B sales. It is up to you to decide if that is cringe-inducing or gets your blood pumping. Good luck.
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