Why + First thought

Introduction

A warm welcome and hum hello to the inception of my blogging!

The purpose here is to build my personal thought-scape on:

• Career
• Software
• Music
• Hobbies & Interests
• and more

The goal is neither to be rigorously serious nor entirely formal. But I do aim to give weight where it necessitates.

Concerning blog frequency: I intend for a minimum of once per week, but not daily.

Please enjoy.

First thought:

There is a growing need for a digital space for authentic, genuine media in a landscape of AI-optimized content.

This thought is a response to two events:

1. An increased frequency in LinkedIn posts generated or augmented by AI
2. The system of clout-farming/wave-riding/view-maxxing on social media platforms

1. An increased frequency in LinkedIn posts generated or augmented by AI

As a graduating college student entering the turbulent yet thrilling world of software, I alongside my peers feel the pressure to optimize my job search. We are tasked to prove to the corporate world that we:

• Are proficient problem learners and then solvers
• Brandish a verifiably strong technical foundation
• Focus on the big-picture and avoid hyper-fixation on semantics
• Have communicated, collaborated with, and led teams
• Are humble yet confident, receptive and responsive to feedback
• Cannot contain our intense internal drive and passion for programming as a whole, spilling into a portfolio of personal projects that demonstrate all and more above

It is not only difficult to feel that you have met all of these tacit requirements, but it is still more difficult to attempt to directly convey what you have to employers. Resumes try to cover the technical portions of the list, but due to the sheer number of applicants across the industry, resumes are subjected to automated and optimized review. This is of no fault to either the resume maker or reviewer, as it is the natural outcome of a deluge of applicants meeting the constraints of human hours for reviewing.

Therefore, LinkedIn became a space to build a long-term, (hopefully) authentic career narrative under the guise of social media. Another barometer for employability.

But given the ability to automate written content with the advent of scalable LLM AI, LinkedIn has now descended into the same peril as the resume market: overoptimized and thus inauthentic. LinkedIn has become another field over which students and job-seekers may optimize their employment prospects, thus flooding it with both AI-augmented and entirely generated posts.

I do not blame this endeavor, however it does create an ironic outcome: for those with keen eyes for AI-generated content, the attempt to optimize is now perceived as lazy and inauthentic.

2. The system of clout-farming/wave-riding/view-maxxing on social media platforms

This goes hand-in-hand with the phenomenon of event 1. However, this form of content creation is not funded by a desire for employment, but instead to garner influence. AI is employed as a quick and cheap means of generating content that attracts attention and (hopefully for them) builds credibility. This can be found on X, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and any other social media in all genres of content.

Much can be said about the impacts of this on the ecosystem of content creators. However, with respect to authenticity, I see this act decreasing the space for reliable content for consumers to intake and engage with.

Synthesis

The rise of both of these content styles leads to a shift in the intention for the platform that harbors them:

• LinkedIn becomes not a space to share career insights and ideas, but instead a required activity to optimally display yourself for employers and connections.
• X, Instagram, TikTok, and traditional social media become not spaces to share interests and creative content but instead to capitalize on viewership via optimal content.

In both is a shift from a perspective of sharing to one of perception. Much more could be said there.

Final words

It is in part because of this issue that I start my blog. It is still undeniable that this is be tied to my name and thus my career and status. However it is not my ultimate goal to create content for the sole purpose of career boosting. Nor is it to establish an echo chamber (comments and likes features coming soon). Instead, I see this as my house for my authentic, genuine thoughts, without the pretense of a social media platform.

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