4 ms·

Haven't updated my LinkedIn profile for a long time, and I get friended all the time by strangers and I don't even know if it makes any sense, but I just accept

by ddon 11y ago

Haven't updated my LinkedIn profile for a long time, and I get friended all the time by strangers and I don't even know if it makes any sense, but I just accept them... How do you use LinkedIn? Please share your ways...

partisan 11y ago
I use it as an alternative to Facebook which I stopped using shortly after I joined. My friends and co-workers are the people I look to keep in touch with, not the people I went to grade school with.
tragic 11y ago
Reluctantly.
hueving 11y ago
I endorse friends for skills they don't have to screw with them.
- sb8244 11y ago
  All of my coworkers have endorsed me for Wordpress for this same reason (to mess with me and potentially get Wordpress recruiter spam)
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- chrisbennet 11y ago
  I like to endorse my friends for "warp drive design".
fweespee_ch 11y ago
I just use it to fish for corporate recruiters to contact me.
zippergz 11y ago
I accept only people I know, but my bar is lower than my bar on Facebook. Basically anyone I've (or could have) exchanged business cards with is ok. I actually find LinkedIn very useful, and am kind of baffled by people who say they find zero value in it. I do find many of their practices annoying; it's far from perfect. And I agree with a lot in the article. But I've been working for 20 years, and having a reasonably complete way to search all of my former co-workers, and where they currently work is amazingly powerful. Whenever I am thinking of applying to a job at some company, I can spend 30 seconds looking on LinkedIn to see if I already know someone inside (which not only drastically improves my chances of getting an interview, but also can yield much more candid information about what it's like to work there). Similarly, if I need a professional contact at some company to solve a problem at work, my LinkedIn account is hugely useful. This might be skewed by the fact that I've worked in some pretty big-name companies, so I have a large network of other people who tend to work at well-known places. But I basically view it as an automatically updating and easily searchable rolodex. And it works great for that.
- mooreds 11y ago
  > Whenever I am thinking of applying to a job at some company, I can spend 30 seconds looking on LinkedIn to see if I already know someone inside... This. I also think that LinkedIn is good for references. When I get an application for an open job and want to get further background, I use two tools: LinkedIn and Google. And when I hear about an interesting company that I may want to work for, I use two tools: LinkedIn and Google.
jeffmould 11y ago
I haven't updated mine in several years, especially employment history (this one step reduced recruiter spam for me to almost nothing). I use LinkedIn entirely as a "research tool" to find connections into companies, or to keep up with previous coworkers current employers. I only accept invitations from people I (a) know personally, (b) have done business with, or (c) see a potential business relationship evolving. I recently registered a domain on GoDaddy (I know of all places) and within 12 hours had over 30 requests on LinkedIn from developers looking to sell their services to me. If anything it is a good upsell for GoDaddy by forcing your hand at WhoIs Guard. Similarly it does seem that installing the LinkedIn app on your phone spies on who you call/contact/look at online which translates into recommendations. A few months ago I had someone give me their business card and I called them the next day to follow up. I had not entered any of their details in my contacts or emailed them prior. After the call I went to connect with them on LinkedIn and sure enough the first person in the "People You May Know" section was this person.
- justinclift 11y ago
  Well, that alone should convince anyone with a technical/IT bent to absolutely avoid GoDaddy. Most already know this, but that's further re-enforcement.
  - jeffmould 11y ago
    I normally try to avoid GoDaddy but had a one-off reason I needed to do this for a client. Between the LinkedIn spam and the email spam from developers, I absolutely will never use GoDaddy again. This wasn't simple whois spam, by the amount alone it was evident they are reselling the information.

by ddon 11y ago

partisan 11y ago

I use it as an alternative to Facebook which I stopped using shortly after I joined. My friends and co-workers are the people I look to keep in touch with, not the people I went to grade school with.

tragic 11y ago

Reluctantly.

hueving 11y ago

I endorse friends for skills they don't have to screw with them.

sb8244 11y ago
All of my coworkers have endorsed me for Wordpress for this same reason (to mess with me and potentially get Wordpress recruiter spam)
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
chrisbennet 11y ago
I like to endorse my friends for "warp drive design".

fweespee_ch 11y ago

I just use it to fish for corporate recruiters to contact me.

zippergz 11y ago

I accept only people I know, but my bar is lower than my bar on Facebook. Basically anyone I've (or could have) exchanged business cards with is ok. I actually find LinkedIn very useful, and am kind of baffled by people who say they find zero value in it. I do find many of their practices annoying; it's far from perfect. And I agree with a lot in the article. But I've been working for 20 years, and having a reasonably complete way to search all of my former co-workers, and where they currently work is amazingly powerful. Whenever I am thinking of applying to a job at some company, I can spend 30 seconds looking on LinkedIn to see if I already know someone inside (which not only drastically improves my chances of getting an interview, but also can yield much more candid information about what it's like to work there). Similarly, if I need a professional contact at some company to solve a problem at work, my LinkedIn account is hugely useful. This might be skewed by the fact that I've worked in some pretty big-name companies, so I have a large network of other people who tend to work at well-known places. But I basically view it as an automatically updating and easily searchable rolodex. And it works great for that.

mooreds 11y ago
> Whenever I am thinking of applying to a job at some company, I can spend 30 seconds looking on LinkedIn to see if I already know someone inside... This. I also think that LinkedIn is good for references. When I get an application for an open job and want to get further background, I use two tools: LinkedIn and Google. And when I hear about an interesting company that I may want to work for, I use two tools: LinkedIn and Google.

jeffmould 11y ago

I haven't updated mine in several years, especially employment history (this one step reduced recruiter spam for me to almost nothing). I use LinkedIn entirely as a "research tool" to find connections into companies, or to keep up with previous coworkers current employers. I only accept invitations from people I (a) know personally, (b) have done business with, or (c) see a potential business relationship evolving. I recently registered a domain on GoDaddy (I know of all places) and within 12 hours had over 30 requests on LinkedIn from developers looking to sell their services to me. If anything it is a good upsell for GoDaddy by forcing your hand at WhoIs Guard. Similarly it does seem that installing the LinkedIn app on your phone spies on who you call/contact/look at online which translates into recommendations. A few months ago I had someone give me their business card and I called them the next day to follow up. I had not entered any of their details in my contacts or emailed them prior. After the call I went to connect with them on LinkedIn and sure enough the first person in the "People You May Know" section was this person.

justinclift 11y ago
Well, that alone should convince anyone with a technical/IT bent to absolutely avoid GoDaddy. Most already know this, but that's further re-enforcement.
- jeffmould 11y ago
  I normally try to avoid GoDaddy but had a one-off reason I needed to do this for a client. Between the LinkedIn spam and the email spam from developers, I absolutely will never use GoDaddy again. This wasn't simple whois spam, by the amount alone it was evident they are reselling the information.