Discussion on:

LinkedIn: What have you done?

Yeah, especially when LinkedIn asks you about endorsements in sets of 4 at a time, with the option to "endorse all" -- it seems like they're more interested in driving the usage of this feature on their site than they are in the quality of those endorsements. However, even though the noise:signal ratio may be high, perhaps the emerging peaks will have some significance. And pity the poor sod who gets none.

They are completely meaningless, the moment I was getting endorsements from a banker on my software engineering skills, I knew it was game over - everybody endorses everybody else t1t for tat.
I've removed all my entire "skills" section and just put them in as text and I don't endorse anyone - don't pity me, opt out of this nonsense too!

I too thought this was a good idea at first, something quicker than the recommend process. But I have co-workers, in a place of only 30 employees, endorsing me for skills that they have no background to know whether I'm good at them or not.

People have become too comfortable with Facebook and the "Like" concept such that anything that allows them to "click" to participate or "vote" or whatever, they will do without any forethought or discernment as to why they are clicking.

And forget about paying for their Premium service. The value of the added capabilities is nowhere near the cost of the upgrade.

First I got the the "free one month premium" assaults. Then the "you are one of the first million Canadians on LinkedIn" note, which did not impress me.

As for endorsements, yes, I find it cheap when someone I've met once endorses me....

The signal to noise ratio is not trending in a favourable direction.

LinkedIn (7 yr member) has become such a clutter, I've basically stopped using it. The ads are endless (people, groups, products), the 'endorsements' are, for the most part, invalid. If you want to endorse someone, take the time to write a recommendation. This came under discussion a few months ago .. 'you endorse me, I'll endorse you' and it's all automated. Note when you log in, it's one of the things you're prompted to do .. endorse people.

Many have found they don't know the person - from either direction - have no knowledge of their work or do know and wouldn't endorse it! Is it a 'like' list? Probably more a 'see and be seen' with somebody perceived as giving a boost to an employment effort .. or ego effort.

Overall value = zero.

The 'upgrade to premium' I see as a touch of social engineering. If you're trying to puff up your chest and look good to a company and then see that people are checking your profile, what's the first thought? It's that place you want to impress!!! Wow .. they just might have been looking!! Quick, upgrade .. pay $$$ so I can see!! And the other side is simple curiosity .. long lost girlfriend?? Ooops, that was Facebook, right?

I agree the value of LinkedIn is on a roll .. downhill.

I have been with LinkedIn for a few years now and have noticed it has become a more mainstream social networking site, as opposed to the more business savvy, network it once was. Linked In has resulted in some great opportunities that would otherwise be unfound or buried in a sea of garbage on other employment sites, Workopolis and Monster for example. So I have reaped the benefits of it being a more business focused site.

I was just saying yesterday though that it has become a lot more like Faceblech. Facebook is okay for tracking down an old school buddy an saying Hi but that's about it. I agree that I see LinkedIn going that way too. I know people who have no business experience, no technical experience or anything normally associated with LinkedIn, an yet they have a LinkedIn profile. I have noticed also that almost every page where you can log in to another site or comment using FaceBook and Twitter log ins, also now includes LinkedIn, which I think adds a lot more "unqualified" (for lack of a better term) users to start up Facebook profiles.

I've also had endorsements from people I've never heard of, I assume in hopes that I will endorse them for something, even not knowing them. This really detracts from a profile system where people could actually show their real merits by associate endorsements.

Of course, when it all comes down to it, the end result is page views to attract advertisers and money. The focus of the site seems to be getting lost in the social 'anyone is a hero ' network environment. It's too bad really because when I wanted to view real profiles of qualified businesses and research prospective clients etc. it was an excellent tool, which has now lost a lot of credibility and become just another social networking site.

I think they should stepo back and find their focus again. If it's ads and money, let me know and I'll kill my profile. If it's B2B networking, focus on it and work to eliminate the BS. As it stands now, endorsements, which seemed like a good idea at first, have lost all credibility. Now it's like Facebook when you log in, "do you know so and so?" "Do you want to endorse so and so?" NO. If I was searching for someone, great, if I was looking to network with a coworker or old associate and praise his abilities, great, DON'T suggest I do.

I assume any feedback to them on the matter would result in the Premium membership pitch, as if that would fix it.

Looking for something new now, LinkedIn has simply failed, in the name of the mighty dollar.

We need a site like this hosted by people who want to develop a real working B2B network and forget the ads and popularity contest. The only problem with THAT pipe dream is that it would be hosted from Canada, US or another nation where money is the only focus.

Too bad, really. LinkedIn was a great site a few years back too.

UPDATE: I just logged in to LinkedIn and it doesn't even open my profile page but goes straight to "We found 37 people you know on LinkedIn. Select the people you'd like to connect to
So I read through the list and found 2 out of 37 people I supposedly know that I actually DO know.

37 people I know include a firefighter in Lakeview (wherever that is), 3 different Wong's that I don't know (and who don't have a complete profile), a swimming instructor/lifeguard in Vancouver etc. My brother, who is already linked to me, and a former manager that I sued and who I wouldn't endorse for being able to write his name.

Skipping that step, I still haven't got to my page and now I have 67 people who aren't on LionkedIn yet and I can invite. One of them is ME! One is a band I used to manage and three are TechRepublic people, this must have been scooped from my GMAIL address book, however there are still a few I don't know, maybe spammers that were auto saved as address entries in GMail or something.

I haven't waded through their TOS or EULA or whatever they have but I'm sue there's a GMail connection in there somewhere, which doesn't really bother me because it's one of my junk mail/web log in accounts.

Talk about going to crap! I just went out on the patio for a smoke with a coworker and she asked if I use LinkedIn (coincidence?) she is new to it and said she was being asked to endorse people she'd never met. And on goes the hopeless cycle of money grabbing websites. I think I'll go back to finding pen pals and writing letters!

and it's got worse since I joined, especially the endorsement part. I feel kind of guilty in some ways not endorsing people who endorse me. I have done so for anything I can feel confident in their abilities, they just seem to keep clicking the pop-up each time they log on. It has gotten to the point where I'm sure one of my connections has actually endorsed me for technology that hadn't been released when we worked together - which completely defeats the object for me. Even more annoying they now send an email to let me know, isn't the notification at the top of the page adequate?

We had a post not so long back about the endorsement 'erm feature, and the same concerns were raised there.
The entire concept is based on all users being trusted professionals who wouldn't dream of doing *** for tat (oh come on PC boys, sort yourselves out) endorsements simply to raise their profile.

I was a little dubious about that assumption, when you then back it up with celebrity emails, it's shown to be complete drivel.

Haven't been on it for a while, and I may never go there again. If my inbox starts getting full, I shall simply cancel it. I'm on other sites including this one where the judgement of my peers has far more value than pressing Like on the basis that I'll get liked back. Even the people who don't particularly like me, don't take me for that sort of arse.

I can't count how many times I find more than one listing for the same person, often with one old profile and now a newer one. But it often takes some digging(aka direct contact) to be sure it is the same person. Apparently folks don't value their LinkedIn profile any more than a free email account.

Toni - I agree with your comments completely. Well done! The number of outstanding invitations I have where people claim to be friends or have worked with me when I do not have a clue as to who they are is astonishing. Needless to say they are residing in my filing tray. The original idea of a business platform was good (and still can be) and some old fashioned people like myself still want that so, those responsible for the site, please do not treat us like giddy schoolchildren in the playground competing for the largest group of friends and stick with the important relevant reasons for starting it in the first place.

To add to the above: i am getting repeated endorsement from the same person. Sometimes 5 a day. Unlikely. But the concept of endorsement is wrong. Of course, it should be used to evaluate people but if you endorse all your friends and all your friends endorse you, it gets deflated. I've been on LinkedIN for 4 years and so far, not a single useful connection. Akram

I agree with others who have noticed duplicate profiles (which isn't LI's fault) - and especially the "endorsement" thing. I make a conscious attempt to endorse ONLY what I know about a person - and some people I know fairly well, but don't know their expertise in X, so I don't endorse that.

I like the recommendations feature - but suspect that may become a load of BS if others just ego-stroke.

Guess nothing's perfect. But if I notice additional junk mail, I'll be gone.

My LinkedIn 'plaint are the messages that begin with, "We've noticed your e-mails have been piling up lately...". Really? The message goes on to say, paraphrasing, "We therefore have removed your name from the e-mail notifications for this group". Come on. That means I'm still a so-called group member but will never see postings unless I go back into setup and change the e-mail setting. LinkedIn never stopped to think that perhaps one could preview a group post without actually opening the message.

I truly don't understand these "we've changed your subscription" messages. (I tend to prefer the digests). Is it just to get me to actually log in to LI ? why?

I noticed this as well! Agree that the endorsement thing has devalued true endorsements, and the "you're one of the top viewed profiles!" is, to put it mildly, difficult to believe. Seems like it's back to the drawing board for the folks in charge of building the brand.

I shut them off through a junk mail rule.

I have been getting so much garbage from Linked In I just ignore the site now. I thought it was just me. College alumni group, former employers, special interest groups, etc. all are loaded with get rich quick garbage, totally irrelevant posts and total BS. I had hoped there would be useful posts and discussions but I find Facebook more relevant and it has much less SPAM.

Not to mention that they exposed a bunch of usernames and passwords due to sloppy security practices. More attention to security and less to puffery would have been a good thing.

Back in the early days of LinkedIn, I used to enjoy taking a quick look to see what my business associates were up to. Now, when one logs in, one is accosted by messages beginning, "LinkedIn Today Recommends for You...". I hardly think so. Did anyone ever stop to think that perhaps such so called "news" could be set in scrollable side panels? Now I realize the organization has to pay the bills, by why o why inconvenience the user community with nusance information right where one does not need to see it and interfers with information that is important to user wishing to access it? Help us, powers that be at LinkedIn, redesign the news presentation with a more optimal approach!

I think it is funny/annoying when you get the message at the top of the page that askes "What was your job description at ..." then they mention the school you attended. School was not my job, it was were I got my education.

The spam mails that appear to originate from LinkedIn are regularly caught in the company spam filter. I say "appear to originate" because I removed my work email address from LinkedIn some time ago so any current mails should not even be going there. I have suspected that some at least may have their true origin in the big identity theft last year.

Whatever the truth of this may be, I share the common opinion about "endorsements". Flattering as they may be, I often feel that I would not even endorse myself in some of the categories others have chosen.

As for "premium", I recall many years ago that Friends Reunited tried hard to persuade me in many emails that their paid-for level was worth having. After a period of studiously ignoring the mails, they stopped; I expect that LInkedIn will do the same.

The comments seem to be consistent that linkedin was better at one point, but better at what? I use it as a professional contact list, job site, and occasionally to do some preliminary research on a potential hire.

Like it or not, it cost money to run a site like linkedin, so they have to generate revenue is some form. Ads, premium memberships, posting costs, whatever.

Now it's good at supplying a pool of recipients for spammers and an audience for irrelevant advertising. I would have considered paying a fee for the service a few years back, but now? I don't think so. A discussion entitled "Found a cool contest for a $500 shopping spree for gold and silver!" is just not something that I'm willing to pay for, and I'm close to not putting up with it "for free."

Unless you are going to set your criteria as only peoplle with very few endorsements are professionals.

If you want increased hits, there are two ways to go, LinkedIn chose the other one..

It would be of value for one of the Linked-In decision makers to look at the comments listed here. Maybe they could get back on track, to grass roots business. I've been a member for years, but now find myself looking for a serious alternative, for the purpose of professional networking.

Yes the endorsement functionality is a little over the top and annoying. It keeps asking me if recruitment consultant that I know are any good at Software Development, Project Management, IT Strategy etc, Clearly most of them aren't as they are sales, not IT people. Either LinkedIn needs to separate people out that have this skill, or are recruiters for that particular skillset.

I am not sure though Toni, that you are not just a little upset that you were told that you are in the Top 5% and not the Top 1% (like me!) ? LOL

Depending upon how you define the word "tool". I have been a member forever. It was a professional site, found it useful for networking and the like. Things started trending down about a year ago with the 'premium' spam and self-promotion. But the 'endorsements' put it closer to Facebook than to the old LinkedIn. The ease of endorsing somebody's skills basically makes it useless. I've been endorsed for skills by people who have NEVER worked with me. I think they merely hope for endorsements back so they can have a better looking profile for a job search. Since that behavior appears to be endemic, it is no longer useful or trustworthy. I think the only ones who find it useful are the proliferation or recruiters who want to be linked to me so they can scan my network for prospects. How sad. The one site I was willing to pay for now become worth less than $0. My 2 cents.

I added the link to this article on my Linkedin 'page' to see what comments I get there. I'll add to my own spam load for a change

The LinkedIn implementation does show some promise, but has many broken aspects, especially that lame "Endorsement" treachery they set up some 6 months ago. Stupid Move, CEO Jeff Weiner! We get what you're trying to do, but you are offending us users that way!

It's also wrong for LinkedIn to inject a company oriented advertisement block *anywhere* in the list of our past jobs, because it wrongly gives the impression a person has worked there. Stupid and wrong again, Jeff!

Also, it is irritating the way when I attempt to make initial contact ( say with a long-lost colleague who was also a friend) I have to specify EITHER "Ex-Colleague" OR "Friend" ... and there are only 4 or 5 options in that list. After all, many colleagues were good friends before company implosions sent us to the winds. That option list needs a little expansion, and needs to allow multiple choice, and even a new entry field we can fill in ourselves.

Finally, the LinkedIn on-screen organization is just messy. You younguns who grew up on Facebook probably feel comfortable there but we businessmen want quick, clear, organized tables not splashes of info all over and all mixed up with adverts. I acknowledge those adverts pay for the free access we have, but if LinkedIn is targetting us business types please clean it up...or perhaps let us pick our own "theme" or "layout" to suit.

Bottom line: In principle I do like LinkedIn, but in practice they have lots of ways to improve;.

I've also have been getting fake "endorsements" for skills that I didn't even know I had. Any day now I'll be an astronaught !!! They must be programmatically generated. This tactic discourages me from ever considering the supposedly "pro" level membership. Clean up your business Mr. Weiner. If this continues I'm "LinkedOut" .

Bravo to our IT department for routing LinkedIn emails right into Junk Mail. These blatantly disingenuous spam initiatives are annoying.

Having said that, I can't wait until Angry Birds Office is offered on LInkedIn, you know?

This may be the 'feature' that finally gets me to delete my profile. A while back someone endorsed me for something I didn't even know how to use. This had a snowball effect and the endorsements started piling on. Then I started getting requests from recruiters. Now I have to spend time on a regular basis removing endorsements.

Some time ago I estimated that 20% of all profiles are dud or duplicates. I think that is connected with the fact that a lot of people are not so savvy in using the system and start a new profile instead of modifying an old one, and maybe do not know how to delete a duplicate when they discover it.

This new endorsement business raised my eyebrows, especially as a lot of the categories are meaningless, e.g. "knows about IT industry", not "is an expert C+ programmer". Trouble is, I feel I have to respond as I get these endorsements.

Somebody once asked me what I got out of LI, and I had to think about it. Probably, for me, the biggest element is simply keeping track of people.

I do not value any endorsements at LinkedIn because I, and other users, know how the endorse feature is implemented. Fast-moving business people are simply clicking yes, yes, yes and endorsing connections that they have not interacted with for years. It's more of a game using the basics of persuasion. Persuasion teaches that if I give you something, you are more inclined to give something in return to me. That is exactly how LinkedIn endorsements function. In the world of philanthropy that persuasion technique increases giving and is beneficial. In the LinkedIn world, that persuasion technique also increases reciprocal giving behavior but it is not beneficial. It's a poor usage of the reciprocity technique of persuasion.

Well that's disappointing, I got the email about being in the top 10% of the world on LinkedIN...and now I see 100% of the world got that email. #linkedlies

I've also noticed lately that some of the posts appear to be spam. These are "lose weight" type of posts which appear multiple time under different names. I've actually stopped signaling those posts because it was just rampant.

I have yet to see or hear anything from LinkedIn to explain these posts.and what they are doing about it.

Subject says it all.

Hi,

I fully agree with you, I feel that the more activity there is on LinkedIn, the less value it has. What is acceptable on Facbook, because thet's 'just the way it is", I expect a more professional behaviour from this network. BTW, I was in the top 5 of viewed profiles as well - not very credible indeed.
regarding the endorsements, it says as much on the people who click blindly as on the site itself. I must say that so far, I have only been asked to endorse people I was connected to, but of course, that does not mean I know all theirs skills. My principle is: if I know for sure, I endorse. If I don't know, or worse, if I feel it's not correct, I ignore.

Cheers,

Jean

To agree with what Toni said, Should it be called "LIKed-In"??

You said you had a communication from Linkedin saying one of the top 5% most viewed LinkedIn profiles for 2012! and that you "seriously doubt" it. You're right, because this e-mail did not come from Linkedin. I had a similar one and it was a very persuasive, official looking phishing message. Look at the links on it - they contain "http://e.linkedin.com/....", instead of "http://www.linkedin.com/....

Beware !

I wish LinkedIn would take note of this article, because it is becoming very annoying.

I agree with Toni. Never trusted the linkedIn endorsments but for some time i've thinked that linkedIn was a social in the business field but now ... they have changed theirs course and i think that they are trying to monetize their "work" in a "facebook" manner. Like the author of this article, in the last 2 week i've received a beautiful email (an envelope with the stamp in wax) where they told me that i'm one of the first 500.000 italian members and now the LinkedIn comunity count 200.000.000 of members. So what?
the first thought is that it was simply a marketing operation ...

I too am disappointed in how LinkedIn in lowering itself to a common spamming advertiser. I find my respect for LinkedIn dropping. While still somewhat more respectable then Facebook, they are working hard to wipe out professional respect by becoming just another low-life spammer using vague leads to entice sales of what are probably questionable products.

I am very disappointed in the direction LinkedIn is heading and will reduce my participation in their site.

I've been an active member now for several years and I haven't seen any change in activity on my end. For me, it's been business as usual. I've gotten a steady, low volume stream of emails all along the way. I get updates on contacts changes, occasional requests to endorse or notifications of endorsements, and the odd message from a contact now and then. That's about it. Certainly nothing that feels taxing. Perhaps you're more "special" to LinkedIn than you realize.

In today's world, this is called a "new" way to make money.

I too am getting a lot more emails, endorsements from friends who don't actually know if I have the skill, and excessive requests to join the premium. Just what I need....

I will say this though in defense of my friends. I am deeply appreciative of their willingness to endorse me. It is a very kind gesture. I am just opposed to the way LinkedIn encourages this practice without allowing for a more thoughtful or worthy endorsement.

I was reluctant to join up back in 2007 because even then it seemed mostly like an ideal way for B2B advertisers to put out a lot of advertising. I already know my business colleagues, I don't need a website to collect them all together for someone else to peruse depending on my privacy settings. It still has some value as a way to keep peripherpal people in your orbit - freelancers that you couldn't do a deal with this time but maybe next time, etc.

If they have an endorsement feature they should also have a 'non-endorsement' feature that removes one unit of endorsement. It's amazing what some people say they are skilled in, that I know they have no clue about.

LinkedIn is essentially a total joke now. At best I use it to read up on a Local tech group to see what the various tech related chatter is in my specific area. Beyond that I go to it out of habit or morbid curiousity than anything.
They're the social media equivilant to a road side accident. Everyone is just 'rubber necking', checking it out, as they go by to somewhere more useful.

Theres so many aspects of LinkedIn that I find irritating that its difficult to focus on one. But heres another Id like to add to the list: too many groups on the same topic.

Apparently the marketing gurus out there determined that every professional needs his own group as part of building a tribe.

For instance, I am a freelance writer specializing in the insurance industry. There are too many groups to count on insurance marketing, insurance professionals, insurance sales and variations on these themes.

This fragments participation on LinkedIn. It adds to the work required to track relevant groups. But worst of all, it tempts people to post the same thing over and over and over.

The best feature of LinkedIn is the profile. I use it to get a handle on what a person of interest is all about, similar to a resume. When someone is not on LinkedIn at all, I find it sort of strange and wonder what the person is up toor more likely, what they are not up to, such as not marketing (if they are self-employed).

-Diana

but now I know for sure that others ae finding the "endorsements" and "You are one of the top x% . . . " messages to be as bogus as _I_ am. I have never been one to collect "scalps" just to run up my connection numbers and I have often commented against those who do just try to run up a "big score" in connections. I always thought of LinkedIn as a grown-up's professional networking site but I am thinking more and more that it is just another FaceBook cloaked in a "professional networking" wrapper.

I probably won't totally abandon LinkedIn but I _have_ totally lost respect for it.

I am done with "linked in"..

I was slow to join Linked In, but finally did when I began consulting because the potential for finding future contract work seemed real.

I have never made a penny based on someone finding me on Linked In. I have connected with past associates that eventually led to real job opportunity and income.

If the premium (fee based) membership appealed to more than my curiosity about who has been looking at my profile, I might spend the money. But "who is stalking you" is all I remember from their sales promotions. In practice I've detected that contacting people is being restricted more and more, supposedly motivated by privacy concerns. But amazingly, these restrictions could be lifted by joining the premium membership. Money is the true motivation for creating restrictions. When the restrictions are increased enough to make communications impossible, then I will need to decide to pay or quit.

The endorsements are a joke. I have asked no one for an endorsements and don't display my "unsolicited" endorsements and I refuse to reciprocate endorsements. I laughed when I saw some members "Experience" now shows endorsements rather than employment history. Talk about a meaningless smoke screen.

While I feel that Linked In can provide some value in that I might reap what I have sown, the harvest is getting choked off by more and more weeds.

I believe at least half of the email that looks like it comes from linked in is actually professional spammers spoofing linked in

Linked in has been spamming for much more than the last few months. I made the mistake once of providing them access to my gmail contact list. They spammed absolutely everyone who EVER e-mailed in my name. Tens of thousands of people... This included people in mailing lists and such, where I never had any direct contact with them, until later when they contacted me and I had to apologize for the spam.

That is when I swore off linkedin forever.

Google puts all LinkedIn mail in my spam folder and says something like "we can't tell if this is legit." This is so convenient I have not tried to fix it.

On a recommendation of a friend, I made a LI account. After seeing the shenanigans they pull, and realizing that I had no business being with them, I soon deleted my account. Not that LI liked that, as they kept reminding me that people still wanted my association. There aren't enough hours in a day to deal with that crap.

Good riddance!

I have been complaining about this for a while now but no one is listening. The worse thing is that while Linkedin is devaluing themselves they are taking everyone else down with them!!

I agree with all the comments. LinkedIn has been great for recruiters finding me (at least when I was unemployed/looking for work). It's also great for getting to know a new work acquaintance 'from a distance'--by reading their profile; and vice-versa. But it seems that to LinkedIn executives, the profile is the least important part of the web site now.

I can't really speak to more email, and by that I assume you mean unsolicited email.
I also got that one of the top 5% most viewed LinkedIn profiles for 2012! .
I smiled and deleted it.
I get a lot of email from LinkedIn, because I subscribe to a lot of different interest groups;
primarily in the IBM z/OS systems 'arena'.
I participate in topic discussions If I find them intelligent and uplifting, and they are for the most
part. I also from time to time respond to requests for advice, when I feel I can give the requestor some guidance.
Therefore I do get a fair amout of email notifications from LinkedIn.
But, as they used to say in the military(when I was in 128 lbs ago) regarding receiving mail.
"You want letters? You gotta write letters.."

What was mentioned isn't as bad as the number of spam not from LinkedIn but within groups you belong to. The group was getting messages with rediculous titles such as "Word 2012 Study Guide" and a link. Never tried the link but I'm sure it was something other than a study guide.
These were posted by "people" who had an empty profile. No [real] job. No information. This has been going on for months and there is no way for the moderator to hold off on posts by newbees until he moderates. So this crap goes through.
While at it, the endorsement for individual areas of expertise is useless. I've got endorsements for certain areas that they never saw me use. Stick with the actual worded endorsements.
Don't be surprise if they add some type of real time chat service.

If you want to see what LinkedIn has really become, you should try to moderate a large group. I moderated one that had over 40k members, so naturally it was a target for spammers. The problem is that LinkedIn doesn't give you any tools to help identify spammers. Once you add them into the group, they start spamming until you kick them.

But those are the obvious ones ... the ones that post resume writing ads everywhere. They make one post and you kick them. The real problems are the "IT Recruiters". They post a gajillion IT jobs, but only some are relevant to the group. As a service to the group, you want to keep them. But deleting 80% of their posts is time consuming. I would spend 15 minutes per day moderating groups, and that was only doing a slap-dash job.

I would have to send a warning to these people advising them that they were breaking the group rules. But there was no way to track who had been warned. LinkedIn needs a three-strike rule. First spam - warning. Second spam - warning & you posts must be approved. Third spam - kicked.

LinkedIn is worse than Facebook for this kind of crap. I'm on both; Facebook delivers on what it advertises. LinkedIn does not - it's not for professionals. It's for spammers and job seekers.

Its a little sad, but we put ourselves out there so I suppose we have to put up with a little crap.

No company avoids this law.
Once upon a time microsoft and google were young and progressive,
now they are old, cynical and nasty with uncountable numbers of useless managers.

LinkedIn was the only company, I gave out my real email addresses...

I agree with this article; guess Im glad to be retired and dont have to count on LinkedIn for professional networking. Too bad, its a shame that for the next generation that its not the resource it used to be!

Being on LinkedIn has never really done anything for me as far as I can tell. Perhaps I don't use it right or something. Maybe it's something that takes active participation. No one has ever contacted me about an opportunity and said "I saw your information on LinkedIn." I get requests from Dice and CareerBuilder all the time. And someone endorsing me for a skill that they don't have really means nothing to me. You're an accountant and you're endorsing me for Network Security? Um, what do you know about that. It would be like me endorsing someone for their excellent mortgage lending skills. Pretty useless.

I recently accepted an invitation to LinkedIn because I had heard it had a decent reputation and thought it couldn't hurt to have a presence even though I am mostly retired. I was disappointed to find out my contacts lists were pillaged and used to send invitations to everyone, apparently, whose email address I had ever glimpsed at. Made some interesting reconnects, but overall was embarrassed that I had bothered so many people.

Totally agree regarding the endorsements. They are worse than Facebook likes, as a "like" does not convey the same depth of support as an "endorsement". It isn't difficult to see the feature is largely useless, yet it is such a significant part of the LinkedIn UI now. When something doesn't work --- kill it. Or suspend it and relaunch it. But to let it go as long as they have tarnishes the stellar reputation of the service.

Yes, I wish someone would create a web site designed for business' to network that was clean of marketing assaults and not like Facebook. They could call it LinkedIn.

I have never really understood what it was for. I tried joining the groups but the ones in my profession Archaeology and Heritage got taken over by spammers offering job and lunatics taking the discussion off into the weeds. I and several others tried to point out posts that were off topic by the so called moderator simply didn't moderate and as there are other groups that are better I stopped looking in.

The endorsements are useless especially for a site that claimed to be for "professionals" it simply devalued any claim to be professional.

I also wanted to mention that I've tried to contact LinkedIn on many occasions. Not only is it nearly impossible to FIND a means of contact, but when you do fill out the e-form with a question or complaint, all you get is a canned email saying that the email was received. Then, nothing but crickets.

I never completed the registration for Linkedin. When I got to the place where they asked for the password to my email account I said F you and quit the registration.

they were asking for a password to go with it on linked in not the password of it.

As to why we went on. In my case people I respected said it was a useful networking tool. If they are still saying it, I shall lose some respect for them...

But they added too much SM (social media == sado-masochism).

It's good to see this recognized and publicized.

I think Spiceworks is the best IT related site on the Internet.

Congrats Toni - I think you have voiced what nearly every person who joined LinkedIn during the early years is now thinking. As a networking tool for professionals and for distinct disciplines I think LinkedIn still has a lot to offer - but it is in danger of 'over exposure' and thus losing it's credibility. It needs to regain its exclusivity and standing i.e. less chat and superficial nonsense and more integrity and air of specialisation .

Jeff Weiner needs to take stock now - otherwise serious industry networks & professionals will take their business identity elsewhere.

it's like the Faced-book game but it's a Bigger, Better, Black Hole for your time!

actually I also got an email telling me that I'm one of the first 500,00 people in my country who koined linkedin !!! if I'm within the first 500,00 so ne need to Congratulate me at all.

My thoughts exactly! I just got one asking if I knew myself and the same woman whose name was listed twice. I also go the endorsement page on a couple of people. Now the big catch is, I have a number of friends on this LI thing, but I haven't used it to contact them once. How are you people actually using this that can't be done with email or FB messages?

I knew the tide had turned when I got a notification the other day that one of my professional colleagues had changed their profile picture. I cannot think of anything less important to my professional relationship with other folks than the fact that they changed their profile picture. Are we all 13 years old now?

I've been on LinkedIn for a few years, and many of the discussions I have read or participated in have been informative and, for the most part, professional. I have not endorsed anyone, and don't really care about the endorsements others have made concerning my skills. I much preferred the "expert" points one received by providing the best answer to someone's question -- alas, LinkedIn removed that feature last month. But since my professional interests span a number of fields, LinkedIn provides me with one site to discuss finance, technology, risk management, manufacturing, quality, etc. I just use it when I want information, share what I feel appropriate, and ignore the rest. Not unlike what I do with television commercials...