The King of Pinpoint
Pinpoint is a game on LinkedIn and I am the self-anointed king. It’s one of 3 games that LinkedIn has recently introduced. The others are Queens (a ‘game of visual logic’ apparently) and Crossclimb (a daily ‘crossword with a twist’).
As LinkedIn is for making professional connections and sharing information with them, you might be asking why does LinkedIn have games? Isn’t it all a bit Facebook circa 2007?
My kingdom is one where being boring is outlawed so I like to think it’s because of their commitment to fun. I’ve been having a wonderful time each day testing my brain again Pinpoint. Then I leave a delightfully witty comment for my subjects inspired by the puzzle of the day.
It’s the enthusiastic response to this that made me realise that game creator Pablo Pasco is really about encouraging connection via comments.
Posting on social channels can be daunting. It’s taken a lot of effort with the royal timetable to stick to a posting schedule and share my pearls of wisdom. Then more work still to comment on posts and connect. It’s a tough habit to build.
So let me share this bit of kingly insight, games make it easy to start building that muscle.
👑At entry level, you play the game.
👑Novices play, post their score and then read the comments.
👑Advanced beginners will post their score and comment on comments.
👑 And the king himself writes fun comments about the game that day before commenting on other comments.
Let me make it clear – commenting on these is fun. There are many demands on the king’s time yet I’m willing to play and comment seven days a week because it’s different to your usual business networking.
No one is selling anything. There are no serious issues that require you to impress with your expertise and insight (unless we’re talking Dad jokes). There’s no judgement – even if your score is low. It’s an opportunity to show off your personality, pun at will and just enjoy it. While my score may not be perfect every day, I am certainly the king of comments. Hence my declaration that Pinpoint is my kingdom and my demand for a crown.
And interesting this activity that I am doing purely for fun has had an impact. My profile views have gone up. I’m making new connections via wordplay. Names I recognise from the game are reacting to and commenting on my posts. Now obviously, I’m the king so that ship has sailed for everyone else but that doesn’t mean that it’s too late to join in.
When people read the comments, they see the kind of joy that doesn’t often show up in B2B posts or at networking events. They realise that the price of entry is easy – just make a joke, say what you found challenging about today’s puzzle or celebrate the personal experience that led to you solving it. Once you do that, you’re part of the story. You’ve joined the community (or should that be royal court) of Pinpoint.
I will take my crown off to the creator (when he sends it to me). Pablo who has invented a way to encourage the habit of posting. If fact, I look forward leaving the royal bedchamber in order to play and engage in banter. Three games are the perfect number for completing over your morning cuppa – should you wish to try your luck at all of them. The delight is you don’t but that a new game every day will encourage you to pop onto the platform (even at weekends).
No one is making rules about how you comment or what your posts look like. Yes, being polite is essential (this is a royal decree). Yes, there are conventions about post types, but you don’t have to abide by them. It might confuse people, but it might also delight them. My comments have included songs from Dolly Parton, discussions about liquorice and delightful photos of flowers.
Take my royal word for it that socialising online can be joyful – a way to meet new people who share your interests or for you to find different viewpoints. Business can be fun. By royal decree, I command you to add a few minutes of play to your day and see if it impacts positively on your experience of LinkedIn.
Meanwhile I await my crown…
