The Soft Tyranny of Opinion Censorship

Sure, LinkedIn is a professional online networking site. However, it is not reasonable to expect that those in professional spheres are entirely insulated from policy and politics. On the contrary, the nature of what many of us do requires an inevitable merging of personal philosophy with the politics of public and social policy. Are there some topics and posts on LinkedIn that are better suited for Facebook or Pinterest? I think we would all agree that we have all seen multiple examples of posts and photos that are better left to other social media sites.

My motivation in writing this post is to draw attention to an insidious form of tyranny and thought control wielded by elitists who have appointed themselves judges and juries over the opinions and writings of others in this forum (LinkedIn), many of whom articulate carefully thought out opinions in a respectful manner. With the multiple professions and industries represented on LinkedIn, combined with the intellectual acumen of these talented individuals (and the egos that sometimes accompany them), we can expect posts and updates on a vast array of serious topics, some which are quite controversial. While I prefer to stick to topics that I know, discussions will quite often wonder outside of our spheres of expertise and into the realm of opinion and conjecture. As long as these remain respectful and civil, I think the benefit far outweighs any negatives. With that said, facts are nice to include in posts though.

Read more via The Soft Tyranny of Opinion Censorship. by Robert Nelson, MD