This post written from Starbucks in Somerset NJ 

Is Linkedin – out?

There are rumblings across the web that business social networking site LinkedIn is slipping in popularity.  It seems that those that are Linkedin are now Linkng-out and opting to use the social media powerhouse FaceBook to conduct their online business networking and marketing.

Linkedin is becoming less effective as it grows. I’ve been a Linkedin member for years and have noticed a change. Lately I have received an above average amount of connection requests (connections are Linkedin’s version of Friends). These connection requests are from people that I have no connection with, not even if I stretch to try and find one. I’ve never met these people, they are not in my industry, they are not friends with anyone I am friends with, literally no connection.

The one thing I have noticed about those requesting connections is that they have an enormous amount of connections themselves. It seems as if people are just trying to build their connections no matter who those connections may be with. I’m all for having lots of friends (as I mentioned in an earlier post “You Say He’s Just a Friend”) but shouldn’t there be a reason for the friendship / connection other than the overall number one can compile?

Linkedin is supposed to be a business networking site. Mimicking a rolodex one might build over time by attending offline networking events. If we just build random connections what benefit does that have? Wouldn’t a more focused group of connections work much better? The answer is emphatically “yes”. From a business perspective a smaller and highly focused group of connections would yield more results that a large group of connections just for the sake of – well – connecting.

This connection building seems more the move on MySpace as opposed to Linkedin. MySpace has become a friend building frenzy for the MySpace masses. This has inevitably led to it’s ineffectiveness as a social networking site and turned it into a social party site. Like Linkedin, MySpace has also fallen from grace at the hands of Facebook. In 2006 MySpace was named one of the top 50 websites by Time Magazine. In 2007 it was named one of the 5 worst while counterpart Facebook is now sitting in the top 50 spot.

So is Linkedin becoming a business version of MySpace minus the spam? Oh I almost forgot – they have the spam too! Everyone in my company has been contacted by a headhunter / recruiter about a job opening they’d be perfect for. They all received a phone call with the greeting “I came across your information on Linkedin and I’ve got a job opening that would be perfect for you”. Perfect for me? You don’t even know me! And why the hell would you call me about a job opening at work!  Linked in is producing Spam by phone! It’s bad enough to sort through all the electronic Spam, pop ups, pop-unders and alike but this type of Spam is beyond interruptive, it is intrusive and well, just plain creepy.

Because Linkedin is a business networking site members make their contact information visible to all. We assume people would respect our information and use it properly because they are there to make business connections as well.  Social networking sites like Facebook treat your information differently. Your information is not open to the public and only available when a friendship is made. This method has just become a little more important.  

If abuses like this headhunting incident keeps running rampant through Linkedin my guess is that people will start removing their profiles in droves.

Are you Linkedin or out?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 16th, 2007 at 6:09 pm and is filed under Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.