LINKEDIN AND THEIR 50 SHADES OF GREY

LinkedIn’s main purpose is to help people network professionally, but they seem to have lost their way. Like most users, I joined to expand my business contacts and network. Being the mother of 4 and an entrepreneur makes conventional networking very difficult due to competing priorities.

Inevitably in today’s world, Social Media is a necessary evil that can’t be ignored. But it seems that I have not been capitalizing on my opportunities. I enjoy collaborating and sharing views with colleagues, reading interesting articles and why not, getting my daily dose of inspiration.

It all sounds very good, right? Wrong! Although LinkedIn is the number one professional social media network, their practices and business model seem a bit shady. In addition, the bad apples “professionals” out there are spoiling the barrel for the rest of us. It is safe to assume that if LinkedIn does not change its ways, pretty soon the bad ones are going to outnumber the good ones diluting the value of the network.

There are several types of “professionals” using linkedIn:

• The keeper: these are the connections I was hoping for when I joined LinkedIn. These professionals share insightful information, collaborate and are naturally inclined to be helpful (I do not mean gives a recommendation, endorsement or introduction). I can learn from these connections. These ones I cherish.

• The Fast Shooter: These are the one that ones that want to go to third base on the first date. Most of these connections will send an e-mail asking for a job or opportunity to sell something within 5 minutes from the time you accepted the invitation.

• The Deepak Chopra’s wanna-be: These connections search the web for inspirational quotes and gladly share it with their network. The problem here is not the quality but the quantity of updates these individuals post a day. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing. These connections rarely write an article or actively participate in group discussions.

• The Problem Child: These users typically tend to focus on discussing taboo topics such as religion, politics, discrimination, etc. It seems the intent is to create conflict or illicit debate and they are very successful at it.

• The Creeper: James bond wanna-be. These are users that feel the need to hide their identity. I’m going to assume it is a competitor, your boss or someone that feels looking at your profile is a naughty act. Somehow these users make feel like “prey” and very uncomfortable.

• The Giver/Scammer: These are charitable souls looking to move large sums of money from their country to your bank account or representing a billionaire ancestor that named you as their one and only heir.

• The Quizzical Mind: These connections have an endless supply of riddles, puzzles, equations and problem-solving activities. In moderation, these users provide our brains with much-needed exercise.

• The weasel: These are connections that appear to be helpful on the surface but their main goal is to self-promote themselves. Every response provided is calculated and without failure points to personal achievements/awards they have received, things they have done (with links), books/articles they have written, or products or services they offer.

• The Group Vigilante: These are the Group Admins or members with a hidden agenda. They will report/flag anyone they deem as competition although the purpose of joining groups is to discuss relevant topics and collaborate.

• The Player: It might be the result of Ashley Madison’s fiasco, but I’m seeing many of these users lately. LinkedIn is not a dating site and no, I can’t introduce you to my sister or girlfriends.

• The Non-Influential Influencer: The crème of the crop. The elite member that does not collaborate or that has written a handful of articles and whose contribution seem to be limited to their fame/fortune. A simple “it is a beautiful day” comment will get 35,000,000 views and likes.

• The Influencer: These are individuals that made it all the way to the top and are focused on sending the elevator down. They are not motivated by fame or greed but by their desire to make a difference.

My LinkedIn pet peeves

LinkedIn protects and promotes anonymity in the name of privacy but justifies compromising my safety. It allows us to block a "specific person", but since I do not know who is watching, who exactly am I blocking?

linkedIn promotes content/members that are beneficial to them. Writing provides us with the opportunity to share our professional views and expertise. LinkedIn is supposed to be the conduit providing us with the audience needed to distribute the message. Many of us invest a significant amount sharing content that is buried.

Shares data with third parties with “implied” consent.

Allows recruiters to send spam-like messages for positions that are not relevant to you.

Profiles based on ethnicity, religion, gender, age or national origin more rather than professional history or interests.

Discourages users to contact people you don’t know unless of course, you pay (in-mails)

In an effort to monetize the network it forces paying members to view ads and does not allow us to simply opt-out. We can choose to not use cookies but this means that now the ads are really going to be random and irrelevant.

In lieu of recent events, it is my personal opinion that LinkedIn cannot afford to continue to ignore the voice of the customer. We are LinkedIn. They need our free content, opinions and expertise. They remain the undisputed business networking champion, but It is a matter of time before we are presented with an alternate solution that promotes fair and transparent collaboration.

If you are wondering about the article image selection, I'm following a colleague's advice to increase traffic. I will report on the numbers later. I hope he is wrong.