Why I stopped writing LinkedIn articles

Last year I started writing LinkedIn articles.

I'm not really sure why I hadn't started years ago, because I like to write. Well, I say that; really I think what I like, is sharing my thoughts with anybody that will listen. Or read.

I managed the grand total of maybe three or four articles before stopping. Which, let's face it, is not very impressive. Almost tragic even! Not almost. It is tragic.

There are a few reasons I stopped, and here they are in no particular order of importance...

• I was hugely disappointed by the way an article got significantly less traffic than a regular post... to be fair, it could just be that nobody was interested in my articles - and that's okay. I did a little digging, and it seemed I wasn't alone - so yeah, that bugged me.

• The fact that there are "articles" and "posts" is a little silly. I fully understand the difference, and the intended use of each. Nevertheless, just have "posts", like every other platform. Some will be one-liners or re-posts, others will be full-fledged ramblings. I don't start my car with one key to do a short journey, and another to do a long journey - that would be an absurd customer experience don't you think? What happens if I use the short journey key, and as I go down the road, realise I want to do a long journey. I've got to pull over, change keys, and go again... that's even more absurd.

• You can spend a long time researching, writing, editing, and all that jazz, and there is no way to monetize your efforts. Being able to would be nice. Personally, it's not why I write. It would, of course, be a happy outcome though, even if it wasn't raw cash and took the form of credits towards a "Freemium" account. If monetization is a thing... well, it's well hidden, and if it is a well-hidden secret, or an opportunity open to a select few, well, that's nonsense in itself.

• I get annoyed with the annoying number of clicks it takes to get to the article writing bits. I can write a "post" very easily, and yet getting to my draft articles is just that bit more annoying than it ought to be because it should not be annoying in any way whatsoever.

So there we have it, I no longer write LinkedIn articles.

I do however continue to digitise my thoughts and do my bit to fill the Internet with stuff and nonsense, and the occasional very professional view of the world. I just choose to do it in something else, where I will, as the fancy takes me, share on LinkedIn... as a post.