'Just Say You Labored Anywhere': Did Linkedin Employ A Brand New CEO? texas Man Highlights Need For Stricter Verification

In a stunning stunt that caught the internet's attention, a Texas-primarily based entrepreneur, alex Cohen, momentarily became the CEO of LinkedIn—as a minimum on paper.


Cohen, who's the legitimate co-founder and CEO of the healthcare startup Hiya Patient, took advantage of LinkedIn's lack of verification and declared himself the CEO of the expert networking platform.


What made this hoax even more ironic was that Cohen pulled off the identity change on LinkedIn itself, a platform that prides itself on showcasing professionals' painting history and credentials. The platform did not ask for any evidence earlier than allowing him to feature "CEO of LinkedIn" in the revel in section of his profile.


Meanwhile, the real CEO of LinkedIn, Ryan Rolansky, has held the position on the grounds that 2020 is a reality easily verifiable on his own LinkedIn profile.


No verification wanted on LinkedIn.

On march 27, Cohen took to X (previously Twitter) to voice his mind on the dearth of verification on LinkedIn. He pointed out that, no matter being an expert platform, LinkedIn no longer requires customers to prove their employment history before listing a position.

"Nevertheless, it is high-quality to me that LinkedIn doesn't add any verification to show you a figure or formerly labored at an organization. You can literally just say you labored anywhere," Cohen wrote on X.

To show his factor, he made an ambitious move—he updated his LinkedIn profile to assert he became the CEO of LinkedIn. "Besides, I am now the CEO of LinkedIn," he posted a few hours later, alongside a screenshot of his up-to-date LinkedIn profile, in which he was listed as the San Francisco-primarily based chief executive officer of the business enterprise.


The Internet Reacts

Cohen's prank fast went viral, gathering over 10 million perspectives on X. The stunt additionally made it to Reddit's homepage, wherein heaps of customers joined in at the shaggy dog story. Many commenters humorously asked him to restore LinkedIn's current problems while he turned into 'in rate.'

But Cohen's time was brief-lived because the fake CEO of LinkedIn became brief-lived. Knowing the ability outcomes, he quickly eliminated the fake name from his profile.

"I removed it barely after because I might decide upon now not to get banned from LinkedIn," he later admitted.


A larger difficulty for LinkedIn?

Cohen's test has highlighted an ability security flaw in LinkedIn's verification procedure. While the platform presents an area for specialists to connect and exhibit their careers, it no longer has a device in the region to verify whether customers truly work at the groups they list. This loophole permits all of us to falsely claim employment at the most important agencies without immediate repercussions.

The incident has sparked discussions approximately whether or not LinkedIn needs to introduce stricter verification measures to prevent misinformation. Whether or not LinkedIn will address this difficulty remains to be seen; however, Cohen's playful stunt has clearly drawn interest to a flaw that would have more serious implications if misused with the aid of others.

For now, Ryan Rolansky remains the real CEO of LinkedIn, and alex Cohen is back to strolling his real organization—but no longer before giving the internet a terrific snigger.





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