More people sharing personal, political views on LinkedIn — will it hurt them?

Lately on LinkedIn, more people are sharing their personal challenges or expressing opinions about current events. Although a small minority of posts, these still stand out.

LinkedIn, after all, is a business networking platform, and traditionally in business settings, personal information and opinions are shared with friends and close co-workers, at most. Broadcasting personal information to the world, a la Twitter, feels new — and different.

What is behind this trend? And will it last?

First, there's a generational divide about what boundaries mean. Baby boomers were exposed to the slogan, "The personal is political." Today, many, particularly in the millennial cohort, see the personal, political and work worlds as being integrated, and seek to express and gain support for their beliefs at work as well as in their personal lives.

Also, I have seen some social media experts recommend that LinkedIn posts that are perceived as controversial get better engagement and more clicks.

Obviously, the first reason is the more important of the two.

As far as if the trend will last, it seems that once these boundaries have been eroded, they are unlikely to be extended again. The old style of keeping a stiff upper lip and not sharing anything about one's personal life seems to be history.

As for sharing one's opinions about current events, companies are far more likely these days to take a public stance on public debates. I know CEOs who have been criticized by young employees if they don't express an opinion.

But ultimately, over time, taking strong stances on ideological issues on a business-centric platform such as LinkedIn will result in people making moral, even moralistic judgements of their peers.

The purpose of business is to make money. Don't kill the messenger, it's true. Therefore, those who expect their work life to align perfectly with their personal or political beliefs will inevitably feel betrayed.

The recent events at Netflix are instructive. Corporate leadership ultimately told protesting employees: "Depending on your role, you may need to work on titles you perceive as harmful. If you'd find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you."

Isaac Cheifetz, a Twin Cities executive recruiter, can be reached through catalytic1.com.