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Up until the LinkedIn redesign a few weeks ago, I used to run a bit of javascript every day that would pick a 100 people randomly on my LinkedIn "friends list"

Up until the LinkedIn redesign a few weeks ago, I used to run a bit of javascript every day that would pick a 100 people randomly on my LinkedIn "friends list" and endorse them for one of their listed skills that I hadn't already endorsed them for. Every time I did that, it caused about 20% of the people to view my profile, which gamed my LinkedIn statistics so my profile was ranked higher in various searches. I haven't rewritten the script since their redesign, but I'll get to it soon.

jiaweihli 10y ago
Wow, that's an ingenious hack that makes a lot of sense in hindsight. What was your thought process and how did it lead to that? Was it solving a similar problem in another domain?
- anilgulecha 10y ago
  > Wow, that's an ingenious hack that makes a lot of sense in hindsight. What was your thought process and how did it lead to that? Was it solving a similar problem in another domain? I've read your comment thrice and have not been able to understand it! It's starts out mildly reasonable, then drifts out into bot-territory
  - postsantum 10y ago
    I guess this is a HN version of generic instagram comments used by bots (like "nice pic! where it was made?")
  - jiaweihli 10y ago
    I'm mildly offended that you trivialized my comment. I'm even more confused because I believe my questions are completely valid, and you're not taking them at face value. To rephrase: Have you ever encountered a flash of insight that seemed to approach a challenge from a completely different angle? It could be something like someone solving a deeply technical problem in a non-technical way, or the first time you were introduced to affordance [1]. This is similar. Instead of the obvious solution of injecting buzzwords into his LinkedIn profile, deftnerd did a social hack that nudged his own connections towards viewing his profile, equivalently boosting his visibility. What I meant by my questions is that I'm interested in learning both the flash of insight and the thought process that led to that. Sometimes the reason is as bland as accumulated knowledge (but even then, what knowledge?). But if not, maybe I can learn a completely new perspective from which to approach a whole class of problems. [1] https://www.quora.com/What-are-examples-of-affordances/answer/Shaun-OConnell?srid=nEG0 https://www.quora.com/What-are-examples-of-affordances/answe...
    - deftnerd 10y ago
      Thank you for rephrasing your question. I'll admit that I didn't fully understand your query the first time either. I am, by nature, a hacker. I often search for unconventional solutions to problems, even when conventional solutions are already available. It's a form of thought exercise. I take great joy in brainstorming problems and not stopping even when the solution presents itself. For example, housing for refugees might result in coming up with plans for flatpack structures, designing automated machinery to manufacture bricks, to research on genetically modifying gourds to grow large enough to be able to be harvested and turned into structures. As a child, I hoped to work for a think tank one day but the opportunity never presented itself. Instead I attempt to build small automated micro-businesses whenever a new idea captures my interest.
    - anilgulecha 10y ago
      Apologies -- I could have phrased it better. Your explanation above provides clear context for your original question.
      - jiaweihli 10y ago
        A bit late, but apology accepted! =)
tedmiston 10y ago
Great idea. Essentially the same approach as like bots on Instagram. Have you considered doing more targeted endorsing — for example, endorsing people in a skill you want to be endorsed in? I've had people do this manually before.
- deftnerd 10y ago
  I have thought of that, but my skills weren't good enough at the time. This is my old (now unworking) code: https://gist.github.com/DeftNerd/4abf63c7d0e680d62a2cd26d5340c9f3 https://gist.github.com/DeftNerd/4abf63c7d0e680d62a2cd26d534... It was able to pull from an API of "Suggested endorsements" so I could run it from one page. That "Suggested Endorsements" API endpoint doesn't seem to be around anymore. I'm going to rebuild using Selenium. It's heavier, but it'll be easier for me to script actions across page clicks and I can run it headless as a cron job.

jiaweihli 10y ago

Wow, that's an ingenious hack that makes a lot of sense in hindsight. What was your thought process and how did it lead to that? Was it solving a similar problem in another domain?

anilgulecha 10y ago
> Wow, that's an ingenious hack that makes a lot of sense in hindsight. What was your thought process and how did it lead to that? Was it solving a similar problem in another domain? I've read your comment thrice and have not been able to understand it! It's starts out mildly reasonable, then drifts out into bot-territory
- postsantum 10y ago
  I guess this is a HN version of generic instagram comments used by bots (like "nice pic! where it was made?")
- jiaweihli 10y ago
  I'm mildly offended that you trivialized my comment. I'm even more confused because I believe my questions are completely valid, and you're not taking them at face value. To rephrase: Have you ever encountered a flash of insight that seemed to approach a challenge from a completely different angle? It could be something like someone solving a deeply technical problem in a non-technical way, or the first time you were introduced to affordance [1]. This is similar. Instead of the obvious solution of injecting buzzwords into his LinkedIn profile, deftnerd did a social hack that nudged his own connections towards viewing his profile, equivalently boosting his visibility. What I meant by my questions is that I'm interested in learning both the flash of insight and the thought process that led to that. Sometimes the reason is as bland as accumulated knowledge (but even then, what knowledge?). But if not, maybe I can learn a completely new perspective from which to approach a whole class of problems. [1] https://www.quora.com/What-are-examples-of-affordances/answer/Shaun-OConnell?srid=nEG0 https://www.quora.com/What-are-examples-of-affordances/answe...
  - deftnerd 10y ago
    Thank you for rephrasing your question. I'll admit that I didn't fully understand your query the first time either. I am, by nature, a hacker. I often search for unconventional solutions to problems, even when conventional solutions are already available. It's a form of thought exercise. I take great joy in brainstorming problems and not stopping even when the solution presents itself. For example, housing for refugees might result in coming up with plans for flatpack structures, designing automated machinery to manufacture bricks, to research on genetically modifying gourds to grow large enough to be able to be harvested and turned into structures. As a child, I hoped to work for a think tank one day but the opportunity never presented itself. Instead I attempt to build small automated micro-businesses whenever a new idea captures my interest.
  - anilgulecha 10y ago
    Apologies -- I could have phrased it better. Your explanation above provides clear context for your original question.
    - jiaweihli 10y ago
      A bit late, but apology accepted! =)

tedmiston 10y ago

Great idea. Essentially the same approach as like bots on Instagram. Have you considered doing more targeted endorsing — for example, endorsing people in a skill you want to be endorsed in? I've had people do this manually before.

deftnerd 10y ago
I have thought of that, but my skills weren't good enough at the time. This is my old (now unworking) code: https://gist.github.com/DeftNerd/4abf63c7d0e680d62a2cd26d5340c9f3 https://gist.github.com/DeftNerd/4abf63c7d0e680d62a2cd26d534... It was able to pull from an API of "Suggested endorsements" so I could run it from one page. That "Suggested Endorsements" API endpoint doesn't seem to be around anymore. I'm going to rebuild using Selenium. It's heavier, but it'll be easier for me to script actions across page clicks and I can run it headless as a cron job.