October 28th, 2009 by Justin —
I recently lamented the decreasing quality of my LinkedIn experience, which has since been accelerated by the explosion of questionable “experts” offering webinars via LinkedIn groups. But although my own experience is more spam than signal, I also realize that there are ways to use LinkedIn effectively, and it would be hypocritical not to shed some light on those who are “doing it right.”
Signal-to-Spam Ratio
To me, the differentiating characteristic between a valuable LinkedIn group one that I can live without is the ratio of useful information to self-promotional spam from other group members.
One such example of a group gone wrong is the Online Marketing, Web Analytics, and E-Commerce group. In their case, 2 of the 5 most recent discussions posted to the group are solicitations for “get rich from home” businesses. The group’s broad focus may be part of the reason it’s being dragged down by spammers, but it’s also becoming increasingly difficult to find serious conversations about “online marketing” without stumbling into a den of Multi-Level Marketers who monopolize the conversation (and the search results).
On the other hand, two groups that still provide more signal than spam are Social Media Marketing and Social Media Today — neither of which have quite so many solicitations in their recent discussions. Not that they’re immune to such infection, but they do a better job of inoculating themselves against it.
So what’s the difference?
Since spammers will always sneak through the door that’s open widest, the continued value of these groups is due primarily to the anti-spam vigilance of their group moderators. In fact, SMM’s Michael Crosson recently trotted out a 9-month old discussion called “COMMERCIAL OVER-POSTING IS PROHIBITED, PERIOD!” which serves as a warning to group members that they can expect to be banned if their posts are obviously too self-promotional or spammy in nature.
Not that the hijacking of groups by spammers happens without a fight. Case in point, OMWAEC’s Lars Johansson just posted a call for volunteer moderators to help mitigate the spam that’s threatening to render his group valueless. But, as he mentions, such moderation requires the time and effort of volunteers who are interested in maintaining the quality of a group in their spare time. Which is difficult because spambots don’t need sleep.
Nonetheless, anything worth having is also worth fighting for. So if you do enjoy your LinkedIn experience, consider volunteering to moderate the forums and groups you find beneficial, because expecting someone else to guard the door is a strategy that’s destined to fail.
September 30th, 2009 by Justin —
You’ve heard the upside about LinkedIn: it’s the top social network for business professionals. You’ve also heard the downside: it’s too formal, too strict, too limiting. But have you ever stopped to consider whether or not your LinkedIn experience is actually relevant?
As a social network, it’s far less “social” than Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. Due to its structured privacy, its only permitted social interaction consists of private emails or group message boards that function more like forums or bulletin boards than blogs. And when it comes to the quality of information available in these groups, the occasional pearl of wisdom is too often surrounded by reheated blog content and bad business pitches from users desperate to drive traffic and influence their peers.
As rival networks like Facebook continue to expand their capabilities — and as the modern business world inches ever closer to less formal familiarity- and trust-based interactions — LinkedIn is in danger of becoming notable solely as an online résumé repository. (And if Facebook should ever delve into that market, LinkedIn’s value proposition would tumble sharply.)
Given these challenges, how would you improve LinkedIn’s relevance?
February 6th, 2009 by Valorie —
I had an interesting situation happen that I wanted to share. I had someone that I was connected to via Facebook. I didn’t really know her but linked to her through someone else that I knew. She put out a status update that she was fired just like that with no warning…she was worried and looking for work last November (or so). I checked out her “info” on facebook, thought her work at Thumbplay looked interesting, and sent her a message that we should talk. She was very agreeable and seemed grateful for the reach out.
We finally lined up some time on the phone and I told her about Creative Concepts. Yes we are small but growing, yes you would start out writing so you could get to know our clients, but could grow quickly into a content editor and then business development if all worked out. Lots of opportunities and while we aren’t a big corporate entity with floors and floors and tons of perks (and by the way aren’t those the ones going out of business or at the least laying off while we are hiring), it was an opportunity to make a move that provided flexibility and a future and at the very least provided some income for right now until the next big office job with lots and lots of floors comes along.
She said it sounded interesting and liked the idea that I was understanding enough to know that she may want to move to the big office if she found it….ahh, but that talk was all a lie. This is what she chose to do: she never responded back with an official yes or no even though she said she would (and wouldn’t that be good manners to do so and don’t manners count on a job hunt?), she continued to post status updates on Facebook saying she didn’t have any job possibilities, she actually sent me an invitation on Linkedin asking if I knew of any job possibilites would I pass them along, and then I read about her in Silicon Alley Insider where they had chosen 2 people to profile who had been fired, had no job possibilities and were on a job hunt. Oh and did I mention the part about how on her blog she mentioned how she shouldn’t be on the toilet while having a phone interview (the same day I interviewed her on the phone) and one of her latest blog entires title is “I am the Gold Medal Winner of Bong Hits”…what if that employer with lots and lots of floors stops by her blog and reads just the title?
This is a classic example of how not to handle a job search. The next time I go into the local schools and talk about the power of the internet, I will be sure to mention Heather Fink’s name and her approach to the process. It will hopefully be a stellar case study that will teach the kids a thing or two because if I am not mistaken, Miss Heather still doesn’t have a job.
