LinkedIn has always been a bit up itself. And for a long time, I was fine with that. I'd much rather that people indulged in a bit of buzzword bingo and business BS than screamed at each other like madmen on X, Facebook or any other social media platform. .
But somehow, in 2026, LinkedIn has become just as irritating, albeit in a very different way.
I'm sure you know I'm talking about. Reading about how "the design industry will never be the same again". Wading through a 4,000 word post on the challenges of AI (from someone no more qualified to talk about it than the next person). Cringing as every other post begins "I don't usually post on LinkedIn, but this really needs saying…"
The irony is, designers spend their working lives trying to communicate clearly, to strip out the noise, to say the thing directly and let it land. Yet Designer LinkedIn, increasingly, does the opposite: it takes a simple observation and wraps it in so many layers of dramatic framing that by the time you reach the actual point, you've already scrolled past it.
I'm clearly not alone in this, because the internet is full of people asking LinkedIn to allow them to mute certain keywords and phrases. The platform hasn't yet relented, but as an eternal optimist, I'm sure they will in future. In the meantime, here's a handy checklist of the phrases* that are currently driving designers mad, so you can avoid using them in your own posts.
An entirely false sense of urgency
1. "This changes everything."
No, it doesn't. Not even close. The new Figma update is not a civilisational shift. Neither is the rebrand you just read about on Brand New. An asteroid hitting Earth? That changes everything. A supervolcano wiping out most of Australia and New Zealand? That would also count. Fresh kerning on a logo? Not so much.
2. "Adapt or die."
Design has been adapting continuously for decades. It's the job. Nobody needs the reminder to do your job reframed as an ultimatum.
3. "This is a wake-up call."
For whom, exactly? And about what? These three words have been linked to so many mundane observations, they've become a kind of content white noise. They're the LinkedIn equivalent of a small child pleading "Mum! Look at me! Look at me! Mum! Look! Look!"
4. "What nobody is talking about."
Typically followed by something everyone is talking about.
5. "RIP [insert industry category or professional discipline]."
Kids, let me share a secret. I've been around long enough to hear print design declared dead every 18 months since 1995. Logo design died when Canva launched. Web design died when social media took over. Shortform video killed social content. UX died when AI arrived. And yet somehow, designers are still in work. Trust me, things are never as bad as they seem
Thinking you're the first person to write about AI
6. "AI is not coming. It's already here."
Yes. We know. We've been using it. Who doesn't know this? Computers are here too. And have you heard about this television thing…?
7. "You won't be replaced by AI. You'll be replaced by someone who uses AI."
This cliche has been posted so many times, it's become the thing it's warning you about: indistinguishable, algorithmic, produced at scale. Please, for the love of God, make it stop.
8. "If you're not using AI, you're already behind."
Behind whom? For what race? In what direction? Go away and think about what you just said.
9. "Now anyone can be a designer."
No, they can't. They can make something that looks like design. There's a difference, and you well know it.
Rhetorical landfill
10. "The real question is..."
There's nothing wrong with this in the abstract. But on Designer LinkedIn, it's invariably a pivot away from the actual real question, toward a more dramatic, hyperbolic one that will get more clicks.
11. "Let that sink in."
Try deleting this entire sentence from your post. Does the paragraph still make sense? If so, why use it at all?
12. "The lesson?" … "The takeaway?" …. "So what does this mean for you?"
One of these phrases by itself is fine. Three of them appearing in one post is exhausting. If you need three different ways of asking readers to pay attention, your post isn't doing enough work.
13. "Read that again."
No. I'm busy.
14. "Here's what I learned..."
Is it something you actually learned? Or something you already believed and then had confirmed? Hmmm, thought so.
15. "Hot take:"
Not usually a hot take. Lukewarm at best.
16. "Unpopular opinion:"
Not usually an unpopular opinion. Remember: if you're the CEO of an agency shilling for Fortune 500 companies, cos-playing as a rebel will always be a bit of a stretch.
17. "Game-changer."
The game has been changed so many times, we're all getting dizzy. By now, it should be impossible to remember what the game was in the first place. Was it chess? Water polo? Quidditch? Who can tell?
18. "Quietly."
Ever noticed how everything is being done quietly now? Companies are quietly changing. Designers are quietly thriving. Brands are quitely innovating. Think about it: are any of these things normally defined by the level of sound involved? The word has lost all meaning and should be retired. (Quietly, of course.)
19. "I'm no longer gatekeeping..."
The braggiest humble brag going. If we're being honest, you were never in a position to gatekeep. In your dreams, maybe.
20. The single-word paragraph.
Relentless.
Formatting.
That.
Treats.
Every.
Word.
Like.
Its.
Own.
Dramatic.
Reveal.
* I'm aware that a cursory Google of my 30 years of journalism will probably surface countless examples of me using any and all of these phrases. I don't care. Do as I say, not as I do. Also: it wasn't me, it was the sub-editor. Probably.
