Comments on: Your Vanity is Devaluing LinkedIn

By: eyeonthebiz

eyeonthebiz — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 14:09:04 +0000

You are missing the point. Linkedin is not for your friends to get to know someone, but facilitates you getting to know someone. I connected with several peopl that I share Linkedin groups with, and invited a few of them to my dinner parties. There have been some very interesting developments; developing friendships, some business, introductions and invitations to holiday parties where I have networked with others. Had it not been for Linkedin, I do not think I would have had those very productive and now geniune developments. Linkedin faciliates connected with people that you would not know exist in your industry unless you attend every trade conference on the planet.

It sounds to me that it is your ego might be hindering you. The need to be so exclusive that it might hinder the many possibilities. As being linked does not mean you are best friends or even collegues, it means you are simply linked. The rest is up to you.

By: Corey O'Loughlin

Corey O'Loughlin — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 14:44:31 +0000

I totally agree! I too am much more liberal with my Twitter followers, very conservative with who I connect to on Facebook and will only link with true business connections on LinkedIn. I have blogged before about the importance of treating the social networks differently and I think it is important that users understand the underlying differences in the networks.

Great post!

Corey
blog.openviewpartners.com/blog/core-marketing

By: Vincent

Vincent — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 10:05:49 +0000

Although your arguments are sound, keep in mind that for many people LinkedIn is a business networking tool, not just for people they already know, but those they have yet to meet and would like to start a business conversation with, which could lead to mutual benefits.

That said, everyone is free to use it for whatever they feel is most suitable to their needs.

By: Andy Gambles

Andy Gambles — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 17:45:25 +0000

I completely agree with this. I get a lot of “Why do you only have a few connections”.

My view is if you asked me to introduce you to someone who I am connected with on LinkedIn I could.

By: Kirsty Burgess

Kirsty Burgess — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 19:51:05 +0000

I couldn’t agree more, it appears that for many it is about collecting people rather than valuable connections. People also seem to want to collect recommendations from everyone they have ever spoken to which again devalues the purpose- how can someone who sat next to you in a classroom recommend you on a professional level!
I do use linked in, and it can be a valuable source of information and contacts especially for recruitment or specific information.

By: Trish Groves

Trish Groves — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 16:20:55 +0000

I closed down my LinkedIn account, for similar reasons. Twice. (I decided to give it a second chance – but nothing had changed.

Friends of friends would write glowing references about everyone they knew in the hopes that they would reciprocate, and collect ‘connections’ like they were Smarties or M&Ms. In the end, I found it impossible to believe a word of what anyone wrote on LinkedIn, so it completely lost its value for me.

I’ve gone back to the vintage analogue system of exchanging business cards, which works much, much better for me.

By: Ian Afford

Ian Afford — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 12:07:08 +0000

I agree completely, I have 49 Linkedin connections, all people I know and in many cases have worked with.

It’s not about the numbers, although some people clearly believe it is!

By: Toni Hunter

Toni Hunter — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 11:46:33 +0000

Not at all Duane.
Linked In is a completely different media to open networks like Twitter in my opinion.
I say “stick to your guns, and keep your LI network as a trusted source of information, referrals and quality business connections”
I do, and although I occasionally break my own rules for exceptional cases such as really good Twitterbuddies, my clients really value access to my network of trusted professionals.

By: Farhan

Farhan — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 11:45:46 +0000

I’ve got over 500 linkedin connections (including one Duane Jackson I believe). However I have a really simple rule for Linkedin connections met in real life. The thing is I’ve been committed to adding everyone I’ve worked with for more than a day, and having worked at Yahoo! and having been at a big university business program that’s lead to a lot of connections.

But I’m honest in rejecting connection requests and won’t do introductions unless I actually feel comfortable that the two people I’m introducing will be mutually beneficial, I also give a heads up to the person who’s in demand and give them the opportunity to say yeah sure intro them to me or no thanks.

On the other hand you have someone like Chris Brogan who adds a ton of connections, I can see the point in this in that you never know who might be valuable as a contact, who heard you speak at an event and might be ale to become a lead, or who read your blog and thinks that they might have a job for you and want to know more about you. Not sure I buy it but I think that’s the argument for mass adding.

By: Gloria Charles

Gloria Charles — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 11:40:51 +0000

I think that motivation to “add” people on linkedin is invariably to receive the introduction that you speak of in your post. Sometimes people just want to be able to trawl through your connections to be able to add them.

There is a feature whereby you can hide how many connections you have or who they are. I guess that this means anyone not genuinely wanting to link in with you would be deterred.