During my academic journey of more than 20 years in the UK, I have to confess that I have struggled to navigate the different systems that surround us.
A pressing issue that seems to represent this struggle is my concern with social media, in particular LinkedIn, a platform that, based on 'intelligent' algorithms, shows us continuously what goes on with other academics, professionals, and institutions. By doing so, it helps reinforce in people like me (perfectionist) an urge to check and show that I also do things that should be recognised within my institution and elsewhere. I also fear becoming a target for scrutiny.
Something that has helped me to better understand the why and how of this anxiety and fear is Hans Moeller and Paul D'Ambrosio (2021)'s notion of profilicity. This is an identity technology or technologies which, in our societies and alongside other technologies (sincerity, authenticity) influence and are influenced by how we see ourselves and how we interact with others.
Profilicity operates as systems of communications, or better, as context specific assemblages of communication that require us to continuously invest in curating how we want to be seen as being seen. At the centre of this requirement is the operation of second order observations (the observer observes what/how other people observe something). This is something that these authors borrow from the work of Niklas Luhmann and his idea of society composed of self-producing communication systems.
For people like you and me (academics), profilicity seems to be an inevitable technology where alongside our attempts to show and be shown sincerity (performing established and required roles) and authenticity (pursuing and showing our 'true' inner selves), inside or outside the classroom or the research/impact settings where we participate, we are to engage in validating our profiles continuously, using or being used by profiling attempts of our institutions or groups that we are members of.
Having come across profilicity a few years back, in my latest book on systems thinking and ritual (2024), I proposed the latter as a way of bridging gaps between managing first and second order observations. I also adopted the above authors recommendations to do my best to remain sane, to genuinely pretend. I have proposed rediscovering and reflecting on rituals to help us start acknowledging the importance of pretending. By doing so, I argue that we can have some space for reflection on how best to deal with ambiguities and uncertainties in our conversations with others.
Many of my academic colleagues seem to be more savvy than I am in curating their LinkedIn platform profiles. What seems to be important is, according to Moeller and D'Ambrosio, is not to invest our authentic or sincere selves in our presentations. Rather, it is to consider that there is a general peer, a public sphere in this and other platforms where we observe how others observe (and this includes our own profiles), and engage with this peer. Sometimes, we get lucky and this peer observes us back, by for instance forwarding or highlighting our posts to a wider audience.
Most of the time though, this mutual validation feedbacks are ephemeral. The platform algorithms try to ensure that other people can still see our profile posts or messages long after they have been posted. As profilers, our task is to keep a form of presence, so that the algorithms do not forget us. And to grow our network of 'peers', often relying on their profiles to connect with them.
Like (non-league) football clubs (Sheerwater and Knaphill included), many universities in the UK and elsewhere continuously profile themselves in order to attract audiences. Academics have to be aware of these profiles and often shape their own profiles. Somehow our own institutions become part of our general peers. They observe what we do, and in some cases they profile it.
A social media post from Sheerwater F.C on X, September 15 2026
There is (still) a degree of freedom in deciding what to do about our profiles. As individuals, we can engage with these profile interactions (individual, organisational). Let me call such interactions 'duels' (where one can accept a challenge to regain honour after an offense). I use this term to account for the possibility that duels can be seen as rituals, according to Byung Chul Han (2020)'s description in his book "The dissapearance of rituals".
In duels, honour and form rather than personal pride or smartness prevail. Han (2020) also presents other types of rituals like the Japanese tea ceremony. Similar to duels, form prevails to the expense of individuality. If that is the case, rituals of profiling could be better seen not as demonstrations of individual or collective authenticity or sincerity from those who profile themselves or their institutions, but of seeking (and maybe obtaining) validation from the general peers, whoever those might be. A football team might seek validation from followers and fans if not the league where they play. A university might seek validation from the 'general public' (students, employers, rating agencies etc). Platforms like LinkedIn become the 'theatres' where validations are sought and obtained, leading to further validations.
Moeller and D'Ambrosio (2021) aim to encourage us as individuals to make sure that we do not become the profiles that we show. To differentiate between branding ourselves and showing ourselves authentically or sincerely. If we take the idea of duels forward, we might decide not to bring our 'true' selves (whatever this might mean for each of us) to the challenges.
There is a price to pay if we decide to profile ourselves too much or if our institutions do the same. We had better consider that our lives are too dynamic to be attached to profiles. Maybe as academics or individuals, we do not need to aspire to become social media celebrities after all. Let's try to pretend, genuinely, in such aspirations.
Córdoba-Pachón, J.R. (2024). Ritual and Systems Thinking: Managing an Initial Encounter. London: Routledge
Moeller, H. G., & D'ambrosio, P. J. (2021). You and your Profile: Identity after authenticity. Columbia University Press.
