Did you see LinkedIn’s banner about a new User Agreement?
If you read the agreement, you know you agreed that LinkedIn could use the banner.
That and a few other details.
In 2011, 7 LinkedIn Rules You May Not Know reviewed the agreement that was in place at the time.
The post focused on rules that escaped the average member.
Let’s revisit those 7 rules and see if they are still around.
The Old is New Again
#1 – You can maintain only one account at a time.
That one is still there under C. Service Eligibility, number 4.
I think members know this now, but in the past there were accounts set up with personal names and business names.
Number 5 in that same section states you must use your “real name.” The recently expanded Company Page is where you can set up your business profile.
#2 – Your user profile must be for a “natural person.”
That one exists under Section 10, LinkedIn “DOs” and “DON’Ts.”
So, no profiles for your dog, Fluffy – or imaginary girlfriends. (Sorry, Manti, I couldn’t resist).
#3 – Do not use a cartoon, drawing or non-photo for your profile.
I could not find this wording; however, it appears to be replaced by number 6 of the DON’Ts.
Don’t undertake the following.
6. Upload a profile image that is not your likeness or a head-shot photo;
I suppose members could argue cartoon drawings are their likeness. But, don’t you wonder about those who use cartoons for their headshot? Or is that just me?
#4 – Do not abuse, harass or harm another LinkedIn member.
There may be times you thought that rule never existed.
LinkedIn includes sending unwelcomed communications to others using LinkedIn;
Ah, let me count the ways.
#5 – Do not invite people you don’t know to your network.
Yes, this rather humorous rule is still present.
Define know.
- What if you know them, but they don’t know you?
- Does one comment in a Group constitute know?
One thing’s for sure. There are a lot of people in the know on LinkedIn.
#6 – Cannot send any unsolicited advertising or promotions.
LinkedIn expanded on this one, under DON’T number 8f, to include any unsolicited or unauthorized (emphasis by me), and includes the following.
- Advertising
- Promotional materials (hello? Can you spell webinars?)
- Junk mail
- Spam
- Chain letters
- Pyramid schemes
- Or any other form of solicitation
If that was not enough, LinkedIn offers the following examples.
- LinkedIn invitations used for sending messages to people who don’t know you or who are unlikely to recognize you as a known contact
- Connecting with people who don’t know you and then sending unsolicited promotional messages to those direct connections without their permission
- Sending messages to distribution lists, newsgroup aliases, or group aliases
Do you think LinkedIn has received a few complaints?
#7 – You cannot share non-user information without their consent.
Other than changing the word non-user to non-Member, this provision is unchanged.
I’m not quite sure how LinkedIn would know. I mean is a non-Member going to complain to LinkedIn?
How could they send a complaint without registering for the site?
Ah, the conundrum.
Some New Fun Rules
The following are other rules I found interesting. I’m not sure if I missed them the first time or if they are new.
- You cannot be a Member if you are a competitor of LinkedIn – wonder if they agree to pay for a Premium account if that changes the rule…hmm…
- You are okay with LinkedIn providing you with important notices on the website, mobile apps, or email – and if we say no?
- You cannot add information to a field that is not intended for that field – like your email address next to Social Media Goddess?
I imagine the LinkedIn User Agreement is a lot like a blog’s Guest Post Policy.
The main target of spammers and annoying marketers ignore them anyway, so, what’s the point?
How many of the above rules did you know?
====================
Helping you Keep it simple, clear & uniquely yours – contact me for help with your business writing needs.
=====================
Cathy, I’ve stopped nearly all e-mail from LinkedIn and I now visit the site once or twice a week to check up on connection requests, see who’s viewed my profile, and make sure I’m still showing well in searches.
I put more effort into LinkedIn when business is slow, but I’ve had a full plate for the last few months so LinkedIn is on the back burner.
The emails can definitely get out of control. One thing I don’t like (although I know others don’t agree with me) is direct messages from those I’m linked to regarding their latest webinar or what have you.
Put it in your update and let me choose whether or not I’m interested. And it appears to me as pushing the boundaries of the terms of LinjedIn’s User Agreement. Thanks for your input, John.
This is good Cathy I’ll have to share for #SoMeSa I need to get my act together on linked in I logged in last week for the first time in like a year.
They have proved their model works and at least their initial investors have earned a return unlike $fb
Hey Darnell. I didn’t know about your #SoMeSa. I’ll have to add it to my Channel. 🙂 Let me know when you talk about LinkedIn. It’s my favorite platform for clients.
Thanks for stopping by, Darnell.
Number 6 must be the least enforced rule in all of LinkedIn. I left most of the open groups I belonged to because they were full of self-promotional spam and thinly veiled ads.
The image or likeness is funny. I don’t have a photo on LinkedIn. I used to use the same one I use on my other social media accounts – it’s me, but I’m under an afghan I was knitting at the time. If you look hard, you can see my toes. Technically it could be argued that it’s my likeness, but LinkedIn wouldn’t agree. I know people who’d been using their logos as their LinkedIn “photos” for years, but had to pull them down because they weren’t their likeness.
Original cartoons and caricatures should count as likenesses, especially for artists. When my dad died, we used his self-caricature (a cartoon) in his obituary. First, it capture his personality better than any photo could. Second, he was known as a cartoonist. Third, it really caught people’s attention – so much that the local paper and TV station did stories about Dad. But I’d probably draw the line at computer generated avatars – there are only so many ways one can “Mad Men Yourself.”
Thanks for giving us another view of a cartoon image. I could totally see it for an artist, but I have seen others (writers and others) who use cartoon pics, and I admit my little Shoulder Satan wonders why. 😉
I got very disappointed by the evolution of LinkedIn Groups for just the reason you give here, Paula. I was so sick of the spammy stuff, I left. I don’t participate nearly as much as I used to because it is so difficult to find a Group that doesn’t have this problem.
Thank you for chiming in, Paula. 🙂
Good to have these reiterated, Cathy, though I’m pretty sure people flout the “connecting with unknown people” one all the time.
Oops, boomer Brain here forgot to reply to your comment, Sharon. 🙁 I agree, there are a lot of requests for connections from people who stretch the definition of “known.” 😉