The fear of being seen on social media. How women are having a hard time to show up on LinkedIn.

I start most of my days with a routine. A good cup of coffee, reading the news and catching up on messages and comments on my social media channels like LinkedIn, Instagram or TikTok. 

Stories and posts about my career journey clearly resonate with female professionals - which I can see through the metrics - yet when it comes to being in direct contact, the very same women do not interact as much. 

This made me think. During my coaching sessions one of the first questions I get asked is “how can I grow my network?”. I’m also asked “Do I have to attend networking events to build my network?’. The answer is not necessarily. Why not start with the connections you already have on LinkedIn? But despite the desire to network, women aren’t putting themselves out there in the virtual world, which is literally the easiest form of networking. 

According to Statista, over 44% of all LinkedIn users in the UK are female. So there’s plenty of potential to meet like-minded female professionals to network with but it’s obvious that women aren’t reaching their full potential in their careers because they are unsure how to use social media platforms like LinkedIn to their advantage. 

Besides that, many women are scared to leave comments and to be visible on the internet.

This can be for a number of reasons: 

• Women are afraid of their co-workers and clients' reactions. This is rooted in the fear of criticism and fear of failure.

• And a big aspect here are self limiting beliefs - rooted in women’s childhood or caused by little comments from others that led to beliefs like ‘I’m not smart enough, I’m not good enough, I’m missing the right skills’. 

If you are a manager of a team, it’s crucial to help your female employees to overcome these challenges to support and promote your employee’s career growth. Have you noticed that your male workers repost company content and leave insightful comments and opinions on LinkedIn posts whilst your female co-workers are hesitant and more or less invisible on LinkedIn? You can help your female employees by simply explaining why their LinkedIn presence matters to build their personal and professional brand. They might not even be aware of their shortfall here!

And if you are a female professional who’s reading this and you feel - this is 100% me! I haven’t posted on LinkedIn in weeks, months...perhaps even years? Don’t worry! You are not alone! I struggled to show up on social media for many years and didn’t really know how to use LinkedIn as a networking and personal brand builder. But it’s an essential business tool that is helping me to create exciting new business opportunities every day. And it can do the same for you!

Here are some useful tips on how to get started: 

• Start with simple reposts of your company’s marketing material or posts that interest you and add a simple line like: “Great to see that…” or “Very inspiring post!” and a quick reason why you think it’s a post worth sharing. 

• Start leaving comments rather than just likes! You have an opinion and a voice! Use it to support businesses or posts that interest you to attract like minded people and to start building your network 

• If you're having difficulties to find your own writing style, start replying to posts by copying responses from others on the same post and add your own twist to it

LinkedIn can be a fun platform once you follow content and inspiring personalities and businesses that speak to you. 

If you feel you are afraid of posting and commenting on LinkedIn - tackle it today, start with a simple comment on a post you like and make it part of your daily morning routine to leave a comment. I promise it’ll get easier!