I often find myself wondering, why do people use Linkedin, I accept and appreciate it’s a great networking tool, personally I like to use it to keep abreast of developments, and trends in my industry as well as others, its also a good way to see what ex colleagues or friends are up to.
However there are a few habits that continue to amaze me, the first one is, if people connect with you to network, how often do you find that they don’t actually communicate or return any (non sales related) correspondence?
Secondly, why do complete strangers feel the need to endorse you for skills, they have never met you or had any connection whatsoever, so really what is the value of these endorsements?
Thirdly, why do people connect and then immediately hit you with an unrequited sales pitch of their products or services, its not uncommon that what they are pitching bares no relevance whatsoever to what you do, so much for these highly professional prospectors, it’s literally just a blanket mail and absolutely zero follow up, I would imagine this has to be possibly the least effective marketing channel that any of these companies use.
Another one is “anonymous mode” how often has that character viewed your profile? What is the point of being anonymous on what is predominately a business networking platform? I just don’t get it.
Why do people respond to some of the vague and crazy “I’m hiring” posts, they simply look like data collections to me.
I do the love the ongoing self censorship over posts more acceptable to FB or Twitter, and I thoroughly enjoy reading the stories of individuals over coming all odds to succeed, as well as some of the great quotes from individuals who have succeeded.
There seems to be a constant thread about the differences between Boss’s and Leaders, I wonder how many (if any) Boss’s read these, and actually take notice of them, also how many are instigated by people who simply don’t like their current or possibly previous Boss.
Linkedin, may have a few faults and issues, however I have to say that all in all, I enjoy it and what it brings to my workplace.