Comments on: I Use LinkedIn … But Don’t Preach To Me

By: Jeff Weidner

Jeff Weidner — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:49:00 +0000

I love Linkedin. I use it every day. Currently, I’m creating some new groups and finding new ones to join. I’ve met a lot of great business contacts and as my network grows I’m finding more useful. I’m an open networker and happen to own a staffing company but my network and community on LI has extended far beyond my current staffing business. I also do some real estate investing and my LI network helped me locate a good real estate broker in the area I was looking. It also helped me find a reputable SEO company. I’m sure there are a ton of everyday uses that one could reach out to their network and get some help.

Jeff Weidner
Yes I’m an open networker

jeffweidnerlinkedin@gmail.com

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 03:51:20 +0000

“To each his own…”

Pretty much says it all – unless one wants to snub LinkedIn’s use policy. They get kinda touchy about that, don’t they …

Nice post, Jason.

By: entrepreMusings » Rattling Out Some Link Love

entrepreMusings » Rattling Out Some Link Love — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 20:05:25 +0000

[...] Jibber Jobber [...]

By: Cube Rules » Blog Archive » LinkedIN and LinkedOUT

Cube Rules » Blog Archive » LinkedIN and LinkedOUT — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 11:40:08 +0000

[...] Also, a hat tip to Jason Alba’s JibberJobber blog and his article on “I use LinkedIn…But don’t preach to me.” [...]

By: Aruni

Aruni — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:26:30 +0000

Jason – thanks for the mention! I hope to get to a post about social networking soon. Aruni

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 21:31:09 +0000

I thought that was well put Scott… I do find your last point thought provoking, in that some of the practices damage LinkedIns value proposition… I get few enough requests that I find it valuable, but I would like some additional tools from them, so that when I have multiple friend requests in a foreign language there’s an easy way to manage.. Many of the tools seem as though they were written when folks were going to be delighted whenever a request came in, which was probably the case for most of us several years ago, and when we had single or double digit connections…

By: Scott Allen

Scott Allen — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 20:54:13 +0000

I’m not sure I can go quite that far, Dan. And while I understand what Jason is saying about not preaching, I imagine — OK, I know — that there are those who think I’m one of those who preaches.

See, the thing is… LinkedIn is a network, and as such, we don’t act in isolation. If one person wants to use Salesforce.com one way and someone else in another, it doesn’t matter, because their usage occurs in silos. But that’s not the case on LinkedIn.

Case #1: I use LinkedIn as a map of my stronger connections. If someone I connect to doesn’t do the same, or even someone one degree beyond them, then when I look for a value-added introduction, and it turns out that one step along the way is just a link add with no substance behind it, LinkedIn doesn’t deliver on its value proposition to me. It has become less effective for my usage of the site.

Case #2: A significant number of people have gotten so frustrated with receiving LinkedIn invitations from people that they don’t know that they have simply opted out of the system entirely (I can provide numerous references in the blogosphere if you want them). It was so widespread before the current controls went into place that it reflected badly not on the individuals, but on the site as a whole. So people who I want to connect with — people who I know and respect — choose not to participate because of the behavior of those people.

So while “to each his own” may sound good in theory, in practice it just doesn’t work that way. Our actions do affect those of others, and the widespread practice of light linking / open linking has a negative impact on LinkedIn’s ability to deliver its core value proposition. Now, it may have some positive benefits as well, such as increased visibility within the network for free members, but does that outweight the negative impact?

I respect each individual’s right to make their own decision — I just want people to make an informed decision. If you want to link to anyone and everyone, just know that it has negative consequences for other people as well as any positive consequences you may think it has for you.

By: Dan Schawbel

Dan Schawbel — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 18:46:17 +0000

Honestly, the focus should be on how the individual wants to use the tool, not about an argument of how they should.

By: Scott Allen

Scott Allen — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 17:31:08 +0000

Who decides what LinkedIn is “supposed” to be used for? Individual users can certainly make their own decision about how they want to use it. but when it comes to what to expect from others, I think the only reasonable expectation is for people to use it as LinkedIn suggests. What other standard could be even conceivably reasonable? Now, if you join some group that sets its own standards, that’s different, but otherwise, the assumption should be that other people are going to use it according to LinkedIn’s guidelines, and if you choose not to, you’re the exception, not the rule.

Great comments about the LinkedIn vs. Facebook debate, Jason. It’s a completely nonsensical debate. It’s like asking which place is better for networking — a weekly BNI meeting, the Chamber of Commerce or tradeshows? Why in the world would you choose only one of them?

By: thom singer

thom singer — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:59:06 +0000

Jason, great post….and you are right, I can care less how the other guy uses linked in….but the guy who called me selfish is way off base, and has shown his true colors. Me thinkith he protests too much, as he now strikes me as a “taker”.

Oh well. I did get a lot of comments, a bunch of blogs talked about it, and even more emails. I keep getting hits from other blogs, so this is obviously a hot topic.

Have a great day.

thom