You guessed it: Wallake chose option two. You see, no one really thinks about the feelings of CEOs. Wallake wanted everyone to know that CEOs are people too. They hurt and feel pain just like mere mortals do. So he took a selfie of himself crying and posted it on LinkedIn, along with an inspirational message about what a great guy he was. “This will be the most vulnerable thing I will ever share,” she wrote. “Days like today, I wish I was a business owner who was all about the money and didn’t care who he hurt along the way. But I’m not. So I just want people to see that not every CEO out there is cold-hearted and doesn’t care when they have to fire people.” Then he clicked “publish” and sat back to watch the likes. Quite a few likes came in – but not at the same rate as the reaction. Instead of being dismayed by how “vulnerable” Wallake was, the consensus seemed to be that the guy was a deafening narcissist. The post went viral, and the “crying CEO” quickly became a meme. Internet sleuths began mining Wallake’s online history and discovered that he had donated to the World Wildlife Fund in July to financially support a sea otter. This would be a sweet thing to do under normal circumstances, but it doesn’t sit well with you if you’re the bad guy of the internet. LinkedIn has turned into a cesspool of toxic positivity and a temple of cringe “Maybe it’s not a good idea to adopt a sea lion [sic] at the beginning of a recession?’ one person booed Waleik’s comments. Meanwhile, the news media began to take an interest. Wallake’s crying selfie was picked up by the Washington Post, New York Post, Fast Company and more. People make fun of themselves online every day. The reason this particular piece of content garnered so much attention is that Wallake’s executive empathy is a perfect encapsulation of everything that ails LinkedIn, and by extension, everything that’s wrong with the company culture. LinkedIn was a handy but unexciting online Rolodex. In recent years, however, it has become a cesspool of toxic positivity and a temple of creepiness. There is a subreddit called LinkedInLunatics that catalogs “unbearable LinkedIn content”. It is no longer enough for people to be CEOs, entrepreneurs or middle managers. They must also be inspirational thought leaders. LinkedIn is now a self-help blogging platform for business types. Furthermore, it seems that not everyone can write properly using one-sentence paragraphs. This form of writing has been called “broetry” – and it is brery bririting. Amidst all the crackling, there is a silver lining. Once upon a time, a man was mercilessly mocked for crying in public. Wallake, however, was mocked more for the performative nature of his crying than for the crying itself. It has become much more acceptable for men to express emotions in public. Indeed, crying seems to be all the rage among male leads – a quick way to express authenticity and prove you’re not an emotional robot. Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York, shed tears during some of his daily Covid briefings. So did Eric Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles. Matt Hancock, Britain’s health secretary when Covid emerged, wept (fakely) on TV after the vaccine was introduced. Malcolm Gladwell was brought to tears this month when he told a podcast host how horrible it was that people were still working from home. So what is the moral of this story? So, in true LinkedIn fashion, I’ll give you a list of three key insights. 1 Crying is nice now. 2 LinkedIn is insufferable. 3 Don’t adopt a sea otter at the start of a recession. Arwa Mahdawi is a columnist for the Guardian
