LinkedIn market themselves as a social network for professionals to connect with other people in their industry, industry leaders and potential recruiters. To me, it doesn't match that description at all. If it did, I think it could be brilliant! Unfortunately, I think the people who run it are more interested in having a lot of users than sticking to the USP.
From what I've seen, people add their friends and people they follow on Twitter. Perhaps, in the case of bloggers, they add a blogger or two they haven't connected with else where yet.
I did exactly the same, plus I added a few of the people LinkedIn recommended (in hindsight, I'm not sure why as most of them weren't bloggers or writers) but I was determined to actually use it. I posted some things, but to be honest, it felt pointless. There is very little interaction on there and it doesn't feel social at all.
I requested to join some blogger groups. This was a bit of a waste of time. The majority of them seem pretty inactive.
There were two I found that seemed quite active. One was ok, and is used quite regularly, but again, there is no interaction. Everyone just posts their links and ignores everyone else's.
The other one was quite amusing. I got an email telling me I hadn't been approved to join because I was a spammer. I can't say I was particularly upset, but I was intrigued to know how the group's admin had decided that, so I emailed him back asking why he thought I was a spammer.
He came back saying I only had 9 connections so I was obviously a spammer. Granted, I did only have 9 connections, I had only been a member 45 minutes - sorry the entire site wasn't just waiting with baited breath for me to join so they could mass add me!
I then got a follow up email telling me I should change my blog's name because I had no way of distinguishing myself from all the other bloggers out there. Perhaps that's true. Perhaps it isn't. There are a lot of blogs with similar names and about similar things - show me a blog that isn't similar to someone else's somewhere in the world. I don't know if I manage to distinguish myself from all the other blogs, but people seem to find me easy enough, and I am more than happy with my readership level.
To be honest, I found the whole thing quite bizarre. I could kind of understand why he would assume that someone with a tiny number of connections could be a spammer, but before sending an email, check how long they have been a member, otherwise you just look a bit silly. And as for my blog's name, he has a right to an opinion, I don't even object to him telling me his opinion, free speech and all that, but that still seemed irrelevant to whether or not you could join a group.
He then said once I had more connections and had changed my name, that LinkedIn and this group would be more my sort of place.
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| Clones! Need I say more? |
Erm no, I don't think I want to be a member of such an elitist group and I am certainly not going to change my blog's name because some random man on the internet thinks I should.
So anyway, bizarre characters aside, I still don't really get LinkedIn. I have been approached by a few recruiters which was nice, but I'm not looking for a job. I have had some PR emails, which I believe found my blog through there but I could be totally wrong, they may have found me through Twitter, Google, anywhere really.
It's really not for me, and I don't think it's very useful for bloggers.
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| Not my cup of tea! |
I will keep the account open in case I change my mind in the future, but I am not going to be actively using it. The only time I ever go on there is if someone adds me. When I click accept, it takes me to the page to say connection made. I have a quick check through notifications and that's it.
It may be a case of I'm not using it properly, or not connecting with the right people, but it feels like a boring version of Facebook to be honest.
What do you think? Anyone out there think it's fab? Any tips on how to use it better? Let me know in the comments :)
Keep Calm and Carry On Linking Sunday
I personally have no use for it.. But it depends what you want out of it. I am going to tell you what a very wise man said to me. Linkedin can be used to gather information about, let's say you want a job. You could go to the company you want to work for or a specific field, and find out the name of the managers, etc, and then call them or send an e-mail directly instead of to the H&R dept. It is mostly used in this way. I think it is good for verifying information . But not so much for us bloggers.
ReplyDeleteThat's a brilliant use for it Mary! It looks so much better if you can use the person's name instead of just saying manager etc. Thanks for sharing that :)
DeleteI'm a bit torn when it comes to LinkedIn. I can see it can have it's uses, but for me it's difficult as I have more than one title. I work as an actress and presenter, then as a trainer in corporate skills and now as a blogger. I would ideally like to keep them separate, but it could look a bit strange to have more than one profile (I might even be taken for a spammer - sorry what a plonker that guy!) So I tend not to promote my blogging that much through LinkedIn as through other channels I work with high profile clients and the two might not go together... I haven't tried, and I do have a link to the blog on there, but don't publish my posts. They go on facebook and Twitter. #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteNadia - ScandiMummy x
Its a bit of a minefield isn't it! I would say if you have blog posts relevant to your clients then maybe post them, but I think I would be a bit cautious if they are on a totally different subject. It's probably not worth risking annoying a big client! And yes, he was a plonker haha :) x
DeleteI use it for work and find it helpful for that, but the rest of my social media is kept very separate. That group owner sounds rather full of themselves! #weekendblogshare See you Monday!
ReplyDeleteAs a barmaid I don't think I'll much for it for work lol :) Yeah, he definitely had some weird issue going on! Will do :)
DeleteI'm on it. Don't use it! I have 2 in fact! One for my blog and one for my work in the mental health field. Both sit there inactive as I'm also befuddled as to what in supposed to be actually doing on there! Lol!!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it's not just me! I was starting to think I was just missing the point :)
DeleteI know what you mean. I have recently just added my blog to my existent account and at the beginning felt strange to link them both as my previous details are all related to law so not sure if it really goes now with blogging but at the end I didn't care and put them together. Let's see how it goes. I'm not 100% sure yet. At the moment I'm just sharing my posts there too. Thanks so much for joining me at #KCACOLS. I hope you can join me again. :-) xx
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amomentwithfranca.com/
Good luck with it Franca, hopefully you will have a good experience of it! Thanks for hosting, I'll be back tomorrow :)
DeleteDebbie
Mmmm, I never used to like LinkedIn that much but then I got a Premier account. It may not be worth it for you, but I found that worked much better. I have found it to have its limitations, but at the same time for some actions I have found it to be very useful. For promoting a actual blog, however, not too useful. It is all abut the individual. #effitfriday
ReplyDeleteI will look into a Premier account, thanks for the advice :)
DeleteI don't think it's the best blogging platform out there unless you are freelance copywriting and want to connect with editor's and the like.
ReplyDeleteI find it useful job hunting. Being proactive to seek out potential opportunities and to look up who I am interviewing with if an interview arises!
Yeah, it could be good to get a bit of an insight into the interviewer and what they might be looking for :)
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