My Complaints About LinkedIn
Over the years that I’ve worked in TLC, I’ve gone through phases where I’ve tried to give LinkedIn a chance. After all, so many people say that LinkedIn helped their businesses grow. So many people say that ignoring LinkedIn is a foolish mistake that can cost your personal specific interests in the immediate and your professional growth in the long run. So I go in and decide that I’m really going to dedicate myself to LinkedIn every once in awhile. Inevitably though, I end up losing interest again. In thinking about this seemingly neverending cycle, I realized there are two primary complaints I’ve about the LinkedIn environment that always make me turn away.
1. I’m invited to network with peers instead of potential customers
I don’t know if this is the case across all industries, but as a TLC expert, I don’t want to use social media to link with other TLC experts (even though my social accounts would signal otherwise). On LinkedIn, where the environment is more professional and less social, I want to be able to network with potential customers and existing customers, not necessarily inherent in my primary sector. Unfortunately, when LinkedIn makes recommendations regarding who I should connect with, it always recommends other TLC experts, sometimes even local TLC experts. These “connections” simply don’t make sense. I don’t want to network with my competition. LinkedIn’s advice is not helpful at all!
2. The endorsements
This is a feature LinkedIn offers, but it really makes me not want to visit the site. The general idea is that people can “endorse” you for skills and/or talents. The problems are many. First, no commentary is needed, so a person who has never worked with you and may not even know you really well can endorse you simply hoping that you will reciprocate. That is not valuable for either of you. Speaking of reciprocating, once you start returning endorsements, LinkedIn keeps suggesting more and more people you can endorse. Soon endorsing, which sounds like a great gift, can occupy the same mental capacity as flipping through channels on the television. These endorsements become completely meaningless and really seem more like a gaming technique than anything else.