Why are people thirst trapping on LinkedIn?

A shirtless gym selfie might be framed as ‘discipline in and out of the office,’ a sultry pose on a glamorous holiday as embracing rest to avoid burnout. My personal favourites, however, are the ones that completely ignore context altogether – either because they haven’t mastered the art, or don’t care about us knowing what they’re really up to.

In the last few weeks, I’ve chuckled at plenty of examples I’ll refrain from sharing here. I will just say, though, a post about a B2B webinar series probably isn’t the best place for a bikini carousel… yes, really.

It’s not worth getting in a tizzy about, and I’d argue it’s made LinkedIn a far more amusing place to be, but it’s worth exploring how the thirst trap is spreading its tendrils across the web and becoming an accepted form of personal branding.

She’s amazingly self aware lol pic.twitter.com/8QcIe1NbGY

— Darth Powell (@VladTheInflator) August 5, 2025

You could argue it’s symptomatic of the collapse of context online, and the ever-blurring line between personal and professional. In an environment where our colleagues and managers are liking our Instagram stories and TikTok posts, posting a slightly saucy photo with a thinly veiled ‘growth mindset’ isn’t the stretch it might have been in 2018.

Then there’s the obvious answer: the algorithm rewards it. Like every other platform, LinkedIn’s primary lifeblood is comments, reactions, saves, and time spent, meaning that if someone pauses to gawp or chuckle at an out-of-place selfie, they’re inadvertently encouraging the platform to continue pushing this type of content and incentivising users to follow suit.

Figures show that around half of Gen Zers would become an influencer if given the chance, and we’re constantly told by self-made millionaires and popular creators to ‘build a personal brand.’ Marry that with a modern culture that relentlessly commodifies attractiveness, and it’s no wonder that people are using their looks to leverage professional opportunities.

People with no desire to date have long used dating apps like Tinder purely to boost visibility for their Instagram accounts, and if a well-placed thirst trap can sell a product on Instagram, why can’t it also grow your ‘brand’ on LinkedIn?

The platform may be about careers, but so long as it exists under the umbrella of social media, its superseding currency will always be attention – and attention is thirsty.

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