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My version: I was on the iPad, somehow hit a link to send invites to everyone on my "you might know" list. Much embarassment ensued. Surprisingly, about 75%

My version: I was on the iPad, somehow hit a link to send invites to everyone on my "you might know" list. Much embarassment ensued. Surprisingly, about 75% of people who I've never met (online or IRL) accepted the invite. I'm not exactly sure why Linkedin is worth a damn anymore.

peteretep 14y ago
It's exceptionally useful for getting a quick background on people I've spoken to (or will speak to) in a commercial context
seiji 14y ago
LinkedIn was designed to clone myspace, but for grownups instead of high school kids. It's essentially myspace for realtors.
- sc0rb 14y ago
  I've found linkedin to be massively useful when looking for new contracts. I'm a contractor based in the UK.
  - rubyrescue 14y ago
    any tips you could give?
    - criley 14y ago
      Cultivate connections with people you know and trust, rely on their connections instead of trying to force connections with people you don't know. The power of linked in isn't building a giant list of everyone who is related to you, it's building a tiny list of really awesome people who have a tiny list of really awesome people who have a tiny list of really awesome people... TL;DR: If you curate content, don't be surprised if the quality rises. EDIT: This is the perspective of a more introverted type who tries to build fewer strong connections instead of many weak connections. If you can build and maintain many weak connections effectively, go ahead! I just know that I absolutely cannot maintain those well, and prefer to network with those who can and rely on them to maintain those connections.
      - josho 14y ago
        Your suggestion is the way that linked in used to work. Where your links were ideally strong connections that could vouche for you or make an introduction. But now that linked in is trying to monetize their platform and restricts you from seeing people outside of your immediate network it has become a connect to everyone network. It has been interesting to watch how linked in's efforts to make money has been leading to the weakening of their platform.
    - sc0rb 14y ago
      I generally only add people in Linkedin that I have a personal or professional interest in. I try and make sure that I actually meet, in person, the most important contacts on my Linkedin. I try and add people who are high up in the companies I want to work for WHERE they are also connected to people that I personally know. You need to get out there and grow your network in person as well as online. Online should supplement what you do in real life. I also only add recruiters that work in the specific technologies that I use, I also try and call these recruiters for a casual chat about the state of the market. Only recruiters that I get a good vibe from remain on my list. This has resulted in me never being out of contract work for a few years now and my network now includes CEO's and MD's at very good companies who I have personally developed relationships with.
  - INTPenis 14y ago
    Thanks for changing the perspective on this story. Look, I know linkedin's reputation so when I finally signed up, to keep in touch for jobs btw, I made sure not to click things without reading first. It's as simple as that. :)
Bjoern 14y ago
That explains why $random people I've never met send me connect invites. I normally ignore them, but still waste time trying to figure out if its important or not. -.-. Can one safely ignore all these "Business" networks? Wonder what people get out of it.
- qdog 14y ago
  Mostly the random invites I get are from recruiters or the like, who want a big list of people to try and recruit/spam.
- megablast 14y ago
  I have a help button in my iOs apps, so that people can send me emails if they have a problem or a question. This email account gets a couple of linked in invites a day.
- EvanKelly 14y ago
  I'll connect with someone in my field and location, because those are the connections I hope to foster with LinkedIn. One of the weirder things I've experience is people "endorsing" my skills. Many of which are skills they've certainly never seen me use. I assume they were doing it for some sort of reciprocal endorsement, but I don't want my name attached to someone's skills that I know nothing about.
  - jpdoctor 14y ago
    > but I don't want my name attached to someone's skills that I know nothing about. The endorsements are a particularly bad move by linkedin. I've been endorsed for all sorts of things; Knowing what I've been endorsed for, I don't know why anyone would assign any credibility to those items on their website.
  - uptown 14y ago
    My mortgage broker endorsed my jQuery skills. While they are excellent - I doubt she knows what jQuery is.
dkersten 14y ago
LinkedIn started being worthless to me when the people started contact whoring. Now it serves little more than a place to dump a resume, but really, we don't need linkedin for that.
chmars 14y ago
Surprisingly, about 75% of people who I've never met (online or IRL) accepted the invite. On LinkedIn, I accept all invites. It's my business contact data and if someone wants to get my business contact data in his LinkedIn address book, I am glad to provide them. On other platforms, I am more restrictive. On Facebook for example, I only accept friend request from persons I know in some way or another.

peteretep 14y ago

It's exceptionally useful for getting a quick background on people I've spoken to (or will speak to) in a commercial context

seiji 14y ago

LinkedIn was designed to clone myspace, but for grownups instead of high school kids. It's essentially myspace for realtors.

sc0rb 14y ago
I've found linkedin to be massively useful when looking for new contracts. I'm a contractor based in the UK.
- rubyrescue 14y ago
  any tips you could give?
  - criley 14y ago
    Cultivate connections with people you know and trust, rely on their connections instead of trying to force connections with people you don't know. The power of linked in isn't building a giant list of everyone who is related to you, it's building a tiny list of really awesome people who have a tiny list of really awesome people who have a tiny list of really awesome people... TL;DR: If you curate content, don't be surprised if the quality rises. EDIT: This is the perspective of a more introverted type who tries to build fewer strong connections instead of many weak connections. If you can build and maintain many weak connections effectively, go ahead! I just know that I absolutely cannot maintain those well, and prefer to network with those who can and rely on them to maintain those connections.
    - josho 14y ago
      Your suggestion is the way that linked in used to work. Where your links were ideally strong connections that could vouche for you or make an introduction. But now that linked in is trying to monetize their platform and restricts you from seeing people outside of your immediate network it has become a connect to everyone network. It has been interesting to watch how linked in's efforts to make money has been leading to the weakening of their platform.
  - sc0rb 14y ago
    I generally only add people in Linkedin that I have a personal or professional interest in. I try and make sure that I actually meet, in person, the most important contacts on my Linkedin. I try and add people who are high up in the companies I want to work for WHERE they are also connected to people that I personally know. You need to get out there and grow your network in person as well as online. Online should supplement what you do in real life. I also only add recruiters that work in the specific technologies that I use, I also try and call these recruiters for a casual chat about the state of the market. Only recruiters that I get a good vibe from remain on my list. This has resulted in me never being out of contract work for a few years now and my network now includes CEO's and MD's at very good companies who I have personally developed relationships with.
- INTPenis 14y ago
  Thanks for changing the perspective on this story. Look, I know linkedin's reputation so when I finally signed up, to keep in touch for jobs btw, I made sure not to click things without reading first. It's as simple as that. :)

Bjoern 14y ago

That explains why $random people I've never met send me connect invites. I normally ignore them, but still waste time trying to figure out if its important or not. -.-. Can one safely ignore all these "Business" networks? Wonder what people get out of it.

qdog 14y ago
Mostly the random invites I get are from recruiters or the like, who want a big list of people to try and recruit/spam.
megablast 14y ago
I have a help button in my iOs apps, so that people can send me emails if they have a problem or a question. This email account gets a couple of linked in invites a day.
EvanKelly 14y ago
I'll connect with someone in my field and location, because those are the connections I hope to foster with LinkedIn. One of the weirder things I've experience is people "endorsing" my skills. Many of which are skills they've certainly never seen me use. I assume they were doing it for some sort of reciprocal endorsement, but I don't want my name attached to someone's skills that I know nothing about.
- jpdoctor 14y ago
  > but I don't want my name attached to someone's skills that I know nothing about. The endorsements are a particularly bad move by linkedin. I've been endorsed for all sorts of things; Knowing what I've been endorsed for, I don't know why anyone would assign any credibility to those items on their website.
- uptown 14y ago
  My mortgage broker endorsed my jQuery skills. While they are excellent - I doubt she knows what jQuery is.

dkersten 14y ago

LinkedIn started being worthless to me when the people started contact whoring. Now it serves little more than a place to dump a resume, but really, we don't need linkedin for that.

chmars 14y ago

Surprisingly, about 75% of people who I've never met (online or IRL) accepted the invite. On LinkedIn, I accept all invites. It's my business contact data and if someone wants to get my business contact data in his LinkedIn address book, I am glad to provide them. On other platforms, I am more restrictive. On Facebook for example, I only accept friend request from persons I know in some way or another.