‘How a Hashtag Changed the World’

This is the story of a global movement that began when a single LinkedIn user who was missing face to face connection started a local meetup, and the global movement that followed. #LinkedInLocal began as a single meeting over a coffee for fifteen strangers in 2017, and grew to over 650 cities, in over 90 countries in less than two years. This book details how the volunteer movement began, how it grew, and the lessons and reflections from the movement. The impact on careers and building a sense of belonging was profound, and demonstrates how a group of thoughtful human beings can unite communities and use social media for good. It shares many human stories of authentic connection, career change, and social impact at a local and global level. This global community was founded on the values of collaboration, diversity, authenticity, and respect for one another. Events were pitch-free, not for profit and had corporate social responsibility at their heart. As our post pandemic world starts to take shape #LinkedInLocal shows us the power of connection, community, and using social media for good. The time has come to consider our social dilemma, the role of social media and the human connection gap created by our digital world, and how we as human can navigate a path forward.