I AM BAD at networking as someone with anxiety and autism. I get the purpose of it but I am worried that my lack of online presence will affect me. I am planning to work as a therapist. I’d probably have to open up an account as I want to do something on the side like art commissions or something. I hear people all the time how connections matter more than what you know and that if you didn’t make connections in college then go to LinkedIn. LinkedIn would probably feel less like a headache for me but I don’t like how my information can easily be googled. I value my privacy especially as someone who went through shit as a teen and just wants peace.
All of my therapists have actively concealed their social media. I think you're fine.
You will probably need a professional website to introduce yourself and your qualifications, but beyond that, I would think that having social media might be problematic if you're trying to be a traditional therapist.
My career readiness professor has suggested that and honestly building a website is super cool!!! I can choose to add a password if needed to but give it to employers and such.
I am in a similar situation to you, with autism and no social media for 10+ years. I am slowly building a clientele for my special-interest business through word of mouth. Like yourself I fear social media will just become over-whelming, so I am banking on the slow way working and developing at a pace that is suitable to me. Many people are moving away from social media now, so as long as you can reach the right people then I hope we shall be fine!
You can make connections without LinkedIn. Actually, connections made in person will likely be more useful anyway. All of my professional connections were made through conferences, meeting people, etc.
I made a LinkedIn profile maybe a decade ago? Never used it. Never needed to. Never made any useful connections through it.
You might be able to close indexation of your profile from Linkedin. So no one will be able to get to your profile via external search like google. Still your profile could be discovered to the registered Linkedin users
I didn’t know that. Thank you!
Im a lawyer who is actively not being on most social media, I think it cheapens the profession.
LinkedIn has tried to digitize and monetize organic networking and the result is as inauthentic as you'd expect. In my career, the most powerful connections and opportunities that I and those I work with have received were all results of truly organic networking, starting with professors and internships. FWIW, my therapist has a LinkedIn, but it only has his professional headshot, license, and modalities. He doesn't use it and has said none of his colleagues find value in it.
I have zero social media, no LinkedIn, and no public online presence for going on 7 years.
Never once has it mattered through 3 different job changes.
I used social media to help build my business in the beginning stages and then ditched it when I didn't need it anymore. :)
I don't use anything but reddit. People at my work treat me like I'm an alien because I don't know about the latest gossip, etc. It is hard to make friends. It's like they don't trust you if they can't stalk you at will.
That’s so creepy. Why is cyberstalking so normalized? That is why I stopped using instagram cuz I kept comparing myself to others and some people removed me as their followers but still follow me. Also what is so important about the latest gossip? It’s giving “I don’t have anything interesting so say so let’s just talk about other people”
The whole point of it is cyber stalking, isn't it?
Yes, it’s absolutely possible. Word of mouth and professional networks will go a longer way. Therapists particularly are often found through trusted referrals. For your art comissions, if it is meant to remain a side hustle social media can be overwhelming: i recommend a pdf of work you can send to interested people, an email newsletter occasionally, or a passcode accessed website with your work. To create visibility gift some mini prints or stickers here and there
So much of what people think is "necessary" for various purposes, whether it's professional, social, information-related (e.g. access to news), or whatever, is just a myth society has collectively bought into and demonstrates a failure of imagination. Whatever it is people think you would "need" social media for, just figure out a different way of doing this thing. If it's advertising or networking, there will be other ways of reaching people that might even be more memorable to the people you end up reaching because you stood out from the rest of the pack.
We are meant to make new connections and I don’t think not having social media will prevent you from that. Just keep moving forward and follow your intuition, the path of least resistance will always guide you
I work in a very visible field and have not totally figured this out yet.