LinkedIn = BS
So I finally succumbed to opening a LinkedIn account because I wanted to contact an interview subject and it was the only means I could find. So after verifying the account I attempted to contact the guy and it tried to make me upgrade (read: pay for) my account just to send him a message.
I deleted my account immediately. Why does anyone bother with that site?
Actually, I’m a big fan of LinkedIn. I don’t use their paid service, but it’s a great way to keep an up-to-date resume along with recommendations. In fact, my profile serves as the About page of my blog because of its professional nature.
I’m also a fan of linkedin. They have restrictions on message-sending, but that ability to insulate yourself from annoying invites can be helpful. I seem to recall that you are allowed a certain amount of messages you can send to strangers for free. Also, it may be that the individual in question intentionally put a block on contacts (which by the way seems to defeat the purpose of linkedin anyway).
I got three jobs from Linkedin, and in a way it’s better than a resume because it shows the crowd you hang out with. The trick though is to find their contact information outside of Linkedin (you can still use linkedin to find out people’s names).
As a social networking site, they are plagued by similar problems. Do you accept a person you talked with on the telephone once as a “contact”? If you accept a contact with a stranger, will he or she spam all your other friends. So far, there hasn’t been much of that.
Here are 2 good links about how people use linkedin http://www.linkedintelligence.com/smart-ways-to-use-linkedin/
http://www.linkedintelligence.com/
One final point. The people who gain the most through social networking are the early adopters. They get 20 friends, and then a trickle of people will try to be invited to their social network.
Robert makes an excellent point about how LinkedIn serves as a resume. And it’s not only for folks actively looking for a job either.
For example, LinkedIn provides a Q&A section that allows members to post questions to other members, specifically those in the same industry. Also, if you’re launching a new business and looking for an extra advertising boost (free, natch), LinkedIn works nicely.
A friend of ours ( my wife and I run http://www.szuledits.com ) recently wrote about how he uses LinkedIn to stay in touch with his close circle of friends about what they’re working on professionally and the new contacts they make on the job.
That’s just to name a few. Obviously, at a much more basic level, it’s a “living and breathing” online address book that provides recent news on folks — that is, as much as they choose to provide. And, as far as social networking, it takes that type of communications a step further for those looking to network professionally.
Think of it this way — next time you make a professional contact, whether it’s a news person working in the media or your former boss who’s now been promoted to CFO, search the name in LinkedIn and if they’ve got an account, reach out. Never hurts — and it’s free.
Another note. Most folks rather keep their network small (within a few hundred) so that network is more valuable rather than a smorgasborg of contacts, most of whom they don’t know. That way you increase the value and draw of your network by guaranteeing that you personally know 99 percent of those in your LinkedIn professional network.