LinkedIn® members total over 250 million.
- My little poll barely scratched the surface
- But who doesn’t want to be heard?
LinkedIn’s Clashing Cultures discussed a shifting culture in the business networking platform.
My poll asked LinkedIn® members (who are connections) the following three questions.
- What do you like about LinkedIn®?
- What do you hate?
- Any pet peeves?
Readers also left their views in Comments at the prior post.
The following brings voice to those opinions.
LinkedIn® Members Unscientific Poll
The illustration below captures the major likes, dislikes, and pet peeves.
Quote This
I promised I’d share some of my views, as well as a few anonymous quotes.
The Positive
LinkedIn® remains my favorite platform for business. Polled members also had positive things to say.
“It’s allowed me to network with trainers all over and exchange ideas and systems. I have found great resources through the various groups I belong to.”
Personal Trainer/Fitness Coach “I like the visibility and influence it provides.” Technology Writer/Journalist “On the positive side, I am getting significant exposure from those seeking practice management services.”
Dental Solutions Consultant
Loss of Business Focus
I agree with many of my connections who expressed concern over the apparent loss of focus on business.
“The appeal of LinkedIn for me was its business focus. Moving away from that focus dilutes the worth and authenticity of LinkedIn.”
Marketing Director
“I like to …read articles that are credible and related to my field. If it starts to become too Facebooky then I will not use this site.”
Health Improvement Strategist
Loathing Spam
Spammy tactics are the clear winner in the pet peeves department.
“I’m not a fan of the ability to mass email people…”
TV News Producer/Reporter “What I don’t like…is that there are too many ‘participants’, some which have no shared interest, other than to seek you as a potential customer or to ‘hook’ you to their own websites. They find the LinkedIn ‘window’ as a way to reach out to you to serve their own selfish purposes”
Human Resources Director
One member views the following LinkedIn action as a pathway to inadvertent spam.
Members who import email addresses may not realize LinkedIn selected all contacts in the Invite selected contacts box.
- When you click on a name, you are not selecting that name
- You are removing them from the list
- And sending invitations to all remaining names
See the image below.
Stop Thinking for Us
Do you hate when a social media platform thinks for you? Developers assume they know what’s best for you.
I know the idea of the Influencers rubs me the wrong way. Your influencers may not be mine. And mine are probably not yours.
Polled members also cited the types of notifications added to our feeds.
“My biggest pet peeve is the way LinkedIn sends out these obnoxious notifications to your connections whenever you tweak or update your profile.”
Vice President, Marketing & Communications
You can adjust your own settings to turn off your Activity broadcasts. However, you are left to the mercy of your connections.
Catch-22
An interesting complaint was LinkedIn’s conflicting practices.
Why does LinkedIn show you members who have viewed your profile but prohibits you from “connecting with people you do not know”?
In the case of reader, Anne Wayman, LinkedIn blocked her from seeing the member’s profile as he was not in her network, leaving Anne to ask:
“So how is this info helpful to me?”
Even with a Premium account, members cannot view profiles of members who display themselves as anonymous. I appreciate the privacy protection; however, it makes me wonder.
What is the point of showing who viewed your profile? It seems to encourage stalking campaigns.
Policing Policy
Speaking of policy, members complained about policies with no teeth.
The most significant abuse hits a policy prohibiting members from actions that “Harass, abuse or harm another person, including sending unwelcomed communications”.
The next often ignored policy is the one shown above. Connecting with people you do not know.
“I…find it uncomfortable to get LinkedIn requests
from people I don’t know…at all.”
Professional writer
“I…have a pet peeve regarding LinkedIn’s ability to enforce its own ‘Terms of Service’ …and a LinkedIn Customer Service staff…failing to act or simply neglecting to act on reported violations.”
Executive Director
If it Ain’t Broke
Humans have an aversion to change. Members expressed dissatisfaction with recent LinkedIn changes.
I was ecstatic to learn I was not the only one who mourned the loss of the Q&A feature, Answers.
Other changes frustrated members.
“Another example is the now almost total elimination of any update history.”
The consolidation of “Inbox/Invitations Sent and Inbox/Sent folders…makes it virtually impossible to accurately determine how many invitations
have gone out…”
Executive Director
Service
There were also “dislikes” on certain features and services.
“I’m not fond of the webinars sponsored by LinkedIn…limited on new LI features…but hit hard on their services ($)”
Business Analyst “The ‘in-mail’ is too expensive and limited to be worth it.”
Director of Writers’ Program “My biggest pet peeve—recruiters who link to you…and the job they send you…has NOTHING to do with your area of skill.”
Total Rewards Professional “In-Mails used to at least get some professional response. Today, more and more just seem to be ignored.”
Insurance & Financial Copywriter
Close Quote
What do you think?
- Do you agree with these members?
- Do you have different likes, dislikes and pet peeves?
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The next several posts turn our attention to various social media platforms. I would love to hear your point of view. What are your favorite platforms and why?
Great post Cathy! You know my biggest issues — blatant self-promotion from people too ignorant to know what a “network” is really about and LI getting rid of the Q&As (the only really respectable ones I’d seen).
Thanks, Jenn. I’m right there with you (and apparently so are more than a few LI members). And I definitely agree on the elimination of Answers (the Q&A feature). I loved it for giving and receiving information in the spirit of true social media. Most shared freely and expected nothing in return.
Thanks for stopping by, Jenn.
The main thing I like about LinkedIn – especially for freelancers – is it helps back up your claims. Before LinkedIn I encountered a lot of people who assumed I was padding my credits by claiming to write for some major publications. But doubting Thomases can see editors and other people from those publications among my connections, and in some cases see recommendations from them.
My main dislike? The spammers and self-promoters flooding my inbox and most of the “open” groups with their flagrant and ill-advised lazy marketing tactics.
That’s an interesting benefit I had not thought of, Paula. But then I could see how that could be a problem in your area of experience.
And I love your description of lazy marketing tactics. It really is, isn’t it? People not wanting to make the effort to really connect with their network. What I have never understood is how they think those tactics are helping them.
Thanks for sharing your perspective, Paula.
When you manage a LinkedIn group you quickly realize how many people just join groups to spam them. This is why I’ve dropped out of most of the “open” groups I once belonged to. Too much junk to sift through to find the helpful and interesting comments.
I’ve done the same, Paula. Recently, I joined a group that had a perfect description for my niche. It wasn’t open. I had to follow up on the request and was accepted. That should have been a sign.
I got signed in and see there had been no “Discussions” for months and what was there was all self-promotion. I posted saying I was new to the Group and asked where the Discussions were. Silence. Needless to say, I dropped the Group.
Why keep it going if you are not going to manage it? When I asked a 2nd time for my acceptance in the Group, why would the manager accept my request knowing nothing is going on with the Group? Strange.
I have not really figured out if LinkedIn works or not. Because I have not figured out what it’s supposed to “do”. Because LinkedIn keeps changing what it says it does.
Talk about brand confusion…
You know, Roy, I think you nailed it. LinkedIn is losing its branding as the world’s largest professional networking. It may be so focused on the largest part, it is forgetting about the professional networking part.