Entrepreneur Barbie Is on LinkedIn, and She’s Already Way More Connected Than You, But is she good for girls? By Roo Ciambriello
July 3, 2014, 9:49 AM EDT
The newest high-profile member on LinkedIn probably isn’t going to write you a recommendation or endorse you for your propensity for tweeting anytime soon. Probably because she’s plastic and can’t form sentences.
That totally sounds like insult, but that’s true. Entrepreneur Barbie has joined the career networking site. Her latest status is “My new business is ‘Dream Incubator’ where I act as a consultant, helping girls around the world play out their imagination, try on different careers, and explore the world around them. Our company tagline is ‘If you can dream it, you can be it!’ “
I dreamed I was a dinosaur. Never mind.
Entrepreneur Barbie comes with a tablet (tech savvy!), a smartphone, a briefcase (so business-y!), a pink dress (…) and a high ponytail. Reviews of Entrepreneur Barbie have been mixed. Jennifer Fleiss, co-founder of Rent the Runway—an ingenious service that lets you wear a Badgley Mischka gown and then return it—says on the Barbie site: “She is my idea of a go-getter girl and has encouraged me to believe that women can have it all: a career, a family and a great wardrobe.”
Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code, told TechCrunch: “You can’t be what you cannot see. Having positive role models for dolls that are inspiring young girls to be entrepreneurs is exactly what we need to inspire a generation of young women to start running businesses.”
On the other hand, Salon calls her “a misfire attempt at inspiring girls.” Forbes says it’s an “affront to little girls.” And 16-year-old former TED speaker Adora Svitak believes she “encourages an unrealistic expectation of beauty grounded in narrow ideals—whiteness, thinness, a lack of hair and an abundance of breast tissue—instead of kindness, smarts, self-confidence or athleticism.”
Barbie’s LinkedIn resume is looking awfully impressive, and her profile boasts over 2,500 followers. I’ll keep my fingers crossed in hopes that her face will pop up on my profile in that creepy-cool “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” feature.
via Entrepreneur Barbie Is on LinkedIn, and She’s Already Way More Connected Than You | Adweek.
