My eldest has just graduated from university.

I'm immensely proud. And as a parent, of course I want to tell people about it.

But should I tell my 8,000+ professional connections?

I did some rough maths.

There could be around 1.25 million UK parents every year with a child reaching a major school or university milestone and of that ~225k are likely on LinkedIn and ready to post.

So, with my 8,000ish connections, I could potentially see well over 100 graduation posts - directly, through comments or because someone reposted them.

Now add birthdays. Weddings. Anniversaries. Holidays. Marathons. New houses. Children's achievements. Pets. The occasional inspirational encounter with a taxi driver.

If everyone posts everything that's important to them, is it really any surprise that our feeds become clogged with content that has absolutely nothing to do with why we're on LinkedIn?

We love to blame the algorithm but the algorithm can only work with what we give it. I'm not arguing for a LinkedIn without personality. Personal stories can be powerful when they illuminate something relevant to our professional lives.

But "this is important to me" isn't necessarily the same as "this is relevant to you".

Maybe that's a test worth applying before we hit Post.

Anyway, I'm incredibly proud that my eldest has just graduated from university.

And I've managed not to post about it on LinkedIn.

Oh.

Bugger.