Intro

Greetings, esteemed readers. I hope you are all doing well. Today, in this article, I would like to discuss the apps we use in our day-to-day lives. The social apps that help us connect to the world and shape our lives around them. Before moving on, if I were to give one sentence that captures the meaning of this entire article, I would probably say one thing: be careful when choosing the main social app that will represent your digital image to the world. It will shape who you are in front of millions of people without you even realizing it.

2022-2023

When I joined the Treasury department of Alif back in October 2023, the amount of information I was consuming on a daily basis would probably have knocked the shit out of me if I had just jumped straight into it. It was like a trance state. One wrong move, and you'd be unconscious (I mean sleeping). Yeah, that was my reality.

But one day, I had discussions with Olga Ruslanovna, who was my very first mentor in international relations. Credits go to her. The goal was to connect with a Hong Kong financial services company. To do this, I needed a presence on LinkedIn. I had never heard of this app before, and I didn't know how to be there at first. But it turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made because of Olga's recommendation. Later in my career journey, this professional networking app would become crucial and the number one cyberpillar of my digital image.

Connecting

It was something totally new for me, and I liked it. But why? Maybe because it was exactly the kind of app that matched my character and my goals. Seven or eight years ago, I had a really small presence on Instagram and Facebook, but I didn't like either of them, so I deleted those apps. I only had the traditional Telegram and WhatsApp, and later WeChat for the Asian world.

But I made one mistake that turned out to be fatal. I registered on LinkedIn using a corporate email address that later became obsolete because the company decided to move to a better one. Since I lost the credentials, I had to create a new LinkedIn profile. If you go to LinkedIn or search my name on the Internet using Google or Bing, you will find two profiles: one forgotten by the wind of time, and another standing strong and moving forward decisively.

When I registered again, the greatest mistake was probably staying there and waiting for others to follow me. It was a mistake. Later, I looked at myself and said one thing: "Whether you like it or not, right now, you are nobody, literally, NOBODY. So don't expect people to follow you or somehow give you thousands of connections in a single day or overnight. That's not how it works."

I had friends who would disable connection requests on LinkedIn and leave only the Follow button. I looked at them and honestly said, "Who the fuck do you think you are? You fucking piece of shit. Right now, nobody even knows you. LinkedIn is there for you, for others to connect with you and give you opportunities you never dreamed of. How are they even going to text you if the only thing you do is put that goddamn Follow button there?"

Some listened. Some didn't.

After six to seven months of having a LinkedIn presence, I didn't just stay there anymore. I started sending invitations, starting casual conversations, networking, leaving comments, and becoming active because I loved it and because it was important to me.