Does anyone use, or understand Linked In? (vanity question)

Inquiry | 2/20/14 | Baynative

[Baynative]

I get messages from a website called Linked In all the time. It appears to be some sort of business oriented facebook thingie. But, I can't figure out what it does.

[Two Kids' Dad]

When a person signs up for LinkedIn the program tries to data mine their contact list and it’ll automatically send invitations to all of their friends, family and other contacts. As soon as you sign up it’ll try to do the same to you. I actually created a fake email account and used that to sign up for LinkedIn to see what it was all about. That way, there’s no contact list to be raided and no spam gets sent out purporting to be an invitation from me.

For the record, it’s kind of a lame site. You’re best off ignoring the invitations and not signing up or even replying to the emails.

[reed13k]

Yes but only for business activities - recruiting, headhunters, contact info for customers and suppliers, etc. It’s centered pretty much on that, the worst I’ve seen on the site is some people have less than professional profile pics. It has it’s uses.

[upchuck]

Linked-In, like all social media, is evil.

Can you set up a filter in your email to automatically delete emails from Linked-In?

Considering the voraciousness of the NSA and others, we need to be posting less, much less, about ourselves online.

Saw a bumper sticker the other day, “Facebook DOES NOT care that you went to the gym this morning.” Perfect!

[Borges]

It predates Facebook actually.

[Borges]

Facebook has pretty much been taken over by adults. Kids aren’t as high on it as they used to be.

[CorporateStepsister]

You should take it up. I have registered in 2009 and it’s fabulous. You’ll love it.

what is your email? send it to me via private message and I’ll invite you to join and we could hook up there as connections.

I’ll guide you through and you’ll be on your way.

[Lazamataz]

I’ve gotten job contacts from Linked in.

[tarawa]

I have found it pretty valid when looking for work or checking out a company or a candidate for a position. It is good for business networking and occasional articles of interest. I participate in some of the Disabled Veterans groups on there, and folks help each other navigate the intricacies of bureaucracy.

[Straight Vermonter]

I just got a very good job offer through LinkedIn. Hopefully it works out because it would be a huge professional advance for me.

Mostly, though, it is the equivalent of having a box full of business cards. I can quickly and easily look up people that are professional contacts and get a (current!) phone number or email.

[KoRn]

It *CAN* be useful if you are aggressively(desperate) seeking a job in a specialized field, such as IT. I haven’t used it myself for that purpose, but can see the potential there for such things.

[9YearLurker]

I too have gained an investor, multiple clients, various job inquiries, and ‘hellos’ and other messages from acquaintances and friends both recent and from the past.

Employers are often more comfortable with job candidates if they see a professional LinkedIn profile and robust professional contacts.

[9YearLurker]

I don’t either.

[Fledermaus]

I only get updates on others or job openings too. Pretty useless otherwise.

[Cyber Liberty]

Yes. FR is FR, and FB is FB, but LinkedIn is business. I will not/cannot tolerate any tomfoolery. I got that splash screen wanting me to turn on the “feature,” and I was even faster looking for the “FU” button.

[Cyber Liberty]

Gotta watch ‘em every GD second!

[9YearLurker]

Ha—you do!

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Tomato, tomahto.

[Wyatt's Torch]

Yep. Use it all the time. Business social network. Also received numerous inquiries related to new jobs.

[Agamemnon]

It's really a great business development tool. I am surprised at the majority of posters on this board who can't seem to master what its capabilities are.

Actually one advantage that you just mentioned here is how one gets to see who you might be linked in to who you may have in common, that you would never otherwise know you had in common.

If there is someone I really want to get to know, I'll make it a point get their email address to introduce myself. It's a "cold call" for sure, but when the lead in intro starts "Former FDA Review Chemist ...," like mine is in my line of work it instantly gets their attention. I usually make a contact.

Not impossible to build a respectable rolodex. And what's more, you can download your contacts directly into a spread sheet and sort them as you like.

Linked-in is an invaluable tool for my business.

FReegards!

[Wyatt's Torch]

That’s not the way it works. It uses your contacts to see of those people are on LinkedIn and offers you the ability to connect with them. It doesn’t do it automatically.