Freigeben über

LinkedIn invitations, "I'm updating my contacts" and "please join my ERE network"

  • Artikel

We've all heard about the social networking explosion...heck, blogging is even part of it. If you put your name out there and attach it to any kind of credible content, people will try to link to you. Lately, I've gotten a number of invitations to join LinkedIn, to update my contact info (most of these are via Plaxo) and join a recruiter's network on the Electronic Recruiting Exchange.

I want to put my opinion out here so that nobody takes offense if I don't join their network. My personal opinion is that the value of the network itself lies in the integrity of the connection. By this I mean that a true network consists of people that you know and trust. So by connecting with people that you don't know very well, the integrity of your network (at least within the tool) declines. Then it's nothing more than a list of people (which you could find by using a search engine). So I will not be accepting links from people that I don't have a professional relationship with.

I have to admit that I am often frustrated when I am on the ERE network site (for those of you that aren't recruiters, it's an online portal for members of a large staffing industry organization) and I see someone being congratulated for having 1000 people in their network. That just doesn't make sense to me. I don't know 1000 good recruiters...do you? Can those relationships really be valuable? Is it a popularity contest or are people trying to prove how well networked they are? To me, it sounds like a it's not a good use of time (I'm sorry...I call it like I see it).

So if you have sent me an invitation, please don't be offended if I decline it. It's simply that I have not yet gotten to know you. I'm very open to getting to know you (or else I wouldn't be blogging here). But I am really only comfortable accepting invitations from people that I already know well enough to consider them in my professional network. But I'm very accessible by mail or this blog though. So feel free to contact me any time. Get to know me ; )

Comments

  • Anonymous
    January 25, 2005
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    January 25, 2005
    Um, yeah..that picture comes with an explanation. Unfortunately, it didn't come with an apology from my parents. You wouldn't believe how many pictures I have like this. I actually remember putting on these big plastic toy ears and insisting I was putting them on right...the are obviously backwards and upside down. This actually explains a lot about my personality.

    I was going to blog on this eventually...you beat me to it ; )

  • Anonymous
    January 25, 2005
    Good Post

  • Anonymous
    January 26, 2005
    When I was blazing through blogsphere, at a reduced rate of 1200 wpm, I came across this picture and could not help myself and post it DoYouSnap.com. It fits in with the other pictures of you.

    Back to your blog.

    As a certifiable introvert, I just don't get linkedin. There are some people that I worked with in the past that I care never to see or hear from again.

    I wouldn't want their names 1, 2 or any degree close to me.

    Introvert.

    1. introvert -- ((psychology) a person who tends to shrink from social contacts and to become preoccupied with their own thoughts)

    I wrote an Instant Message Bot so that I could have a conversation with myself. That explains a lot about me.

    DoYouSnap now has a blog as well... http://www.doyousnap.com/blog/index.php

    Keep up the excellent blogging.

    Howard

  • Anonymous
    January 26, 2005
    Funny, someone (whose blog I read) sent a Plaxo update not long after I posted this. I think he's just testing me though. Not...gonna..do it.

  • Anonymous
    January 26, 2005
    Sometimes its more anoying when you never get an invitation to Plaxo or LinkedIn (I don´t even know what it is). How unconnected am I?
    Of course, I live in Chile and so probably my conacts don´t know about it either. And Networking is about where you are born much more than about what you have to give or recieve. Of course this is changing quickly in a very interesting way.
    If the world is global, how many "valuable" contacts do americans have outside the states? I know some who are dedicated to this but you get a that feeling that they are few... hope I´m wrong

  • Anonymous
    January 26, 2005
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    February 06, 2005
    Heather,

    That is just how we designed LinkedIn--there is little to be gained by accepting an invitation from someone you don't know and trust. Some people say "it makes my network larger," but if you have weak connections, then the people you add through a weak connection are unlikely to respond if you ask the weak connection for an introduction.

    We have considered capping connections at an arbitrary number, but felt it would be in the end, ummm, arbitrary. While some people clearly accept invitation from people they don't know well, it generally works pretty well, and I think the user experience is better for those just connected to peopel they are willing to recommend and who can give them a meaningful recommendation.

    -Konstantin

  • Anonymous
    May 24, 2005
    Every so often, I start a new personal campaign at work. It's not intentional and it usually has to do...

  • Anonymous
    July 13, 2005
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    December 25, 2005
    Thought you might be interested in a great site for personalized invitations, www.cardsshoppe.com. There is also an excellent site just for birth announcements, www.birth-cards.com

    Try them both. You won't be disappointed.

  • Anonymous
    January 26, 2007
    I'm happy I searched for the post before I invited you! :-)

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2008
    Actually, if used wisely, Linkedin can be a good way for experts in emerging fields, i.e. my field of sustainable development, to find the missing pieces to a project puzzle.  Unfortunately, google is not that precise of a tool, and it is simply impossible to pull a team from a discrete region.  I personally would never stray from my field, and I am very discriminate about my connections.  In sum, I think that many people, such as yourself, either have an enlarged ego, a expendable field, lack of imagination, poor social skills, or all of the above.  

  • Anonymous
    February 02, 2010
    Could not find my name in LINKEDIN, I want to renew my membership if I am cancelled

  • Anonymous
    May 02, 2010
    My tip for using LinkedIn: don't. There are only two types of people who think it's a good idea - recruiters and salespeople. Actually, there are three types. The third group is stock holders at LinkedIn, who think it's a great idea to provide a means by which those first two demographics can spam the life out of people they barely know, and make a handsome profit in the process. Most professional people I know wouldn't touch LinkedIn with a barge pole, and inwardly cringe when they receive those 'invitations' to join from the less ethical salespeople and recruiters to whom they have erroneously exposed their e-mails addresses. (Which 'invitations', by the way, there is no way to decline – you'll be pestered by 'reminders' when you ignore them until you're left pulling your hair out in frustration). Only use this 'service' if you really want to alienate yourself from most of your professional community. Otherwise, stick to e-mailing people you actually know about topics they've actually agreed to correspond with you on, if you want to be seen as professional and ethical.

  • Anonymous
    May 03, 2010
    Wow. There's a strong opinion! :)