The Business Web 2.0
As CEO of business-based social networking site WeCanDo.BIZ, read my take on the role Web 2.0 technologies can play helping businesses to grow.
Monday 13 October 2008, 11:45 AM
LinkedOut - when business networks don't let you network
When I logged into LinkedIn today I found I have been punished for trying to network with new people I don't know.
Well, I say new people I don't know. I don't believe I have been using LinkedIn for what I would describe as the basis of business networking. Rather, I have used it for several years to reconnect with former colleagues before then sitting around wondering what I do with them.
But I can't do even this any more because my account is now restricted. I have to enter the e-mail address of the other member on LinkedIn before I can invite them to connect. Even former colleagues are just out of reach -- although LinkedIn itself tells me I used to work with these people by connecting us through a former company! What it gives with one hand, it takes away with the other.
So what has happened and could it happen to you too?
Well, it would seem that a number of people I have worked with previously, when they appeared linked to a previous employer, have forgotten who I am when they received my invitation to reconnect. Not a crime on either part. But the problem comes when they press the "reject" button in my invitation to connect because when LinkedIn sees this happen five times -- and I have 300 live connections, so this would mean fewer than 3% of them not quite remembering my name, even though they can see we worked for the same company -- it then stops me from connecting to anyone else, unless I have their current e-mail address. I am seen as spamming to stopped from doing it further.
It hasn't escaped me that if I had their e-mail address, I would already be able to connect to them away from LinkedIn of course...
Anyway, this is the message I now get:
"You cannot send invitations from this page because several recipients of your invitations indicated that they don’t know you. This safeguard is in place to prevent users from receiving unwanted invitations from people they don’t know. Customer Service can remove the restriction at anytime once you’ve indicated you understand the policy. Note that you can always invite another LinkedIn user by going to their profile and entering an email address."
I have said before that this policy on LinkedIn makes it counter-productive as a business networking site, akin to arranging a face to face breakfast networking event but warning each person who attends not to speak to strangers!
If life is this hard trying to network on LinkedIn with people it tells you you may know, how hard is it for using as a tool to broker valuable NEW relationships that aren't currently established? I suppose it's OK if you have one already established mutual connection in common, but what if it's more hops than that? Does anyone actually pass on invitations to connect when they know the requester and the target aren't known to each other? Especially when they know themselves, because LinkedIn tells them, that you should not connect to people you don't know.
LinkedIn continues to be big news because lots of people are on it, in much the same way that MySpace was a couple of years ago. But how long will it take people to get tired of just re-connecting with known people and start to crave a networking site where they can make new connections that are motivated by new business opportunities as opposed to sharing stories about past sales conferences?
It didn't take long for people to switch from MySpace to Facebook and what was perceived as a better range of useful tools. Could the business world's LinkedIn epiphany be just around the corner?
Ian Hendry
CEO, WeCanDo.BIZ
http://www.wecando.biz
Well, I say new people I don't know. I don't believe I have been using LinkedIn for what I would describe as the basis of business networking. Rather, I have used it for several years to reconnect with former colleagues before then sitting around wondering what I do with them.
But I can't do even this any more because my account is now restricted. I have to enter the e-mail address of the other member on LinkedIn before I can invite them to connect. Even former colleagues are just out of reach -- although LinkedIn itself tells me I used to work with these people by connecting us through a former company! What it gives with one hand, it takes away with the other.
So what has happened and could it happen to you too?
Well, it would seem that a number of people I have worked with previously, when they appeared linked to a previous employer, have forgotten who I am when they received my invitation to reconnect. Not a crime on either part. But the problem comes when they press the "reject" button in my invitation to connect because when LinkedIn sees this happen five times -- and I have 300 live connections, so this would mean fewer than 3% of them not quite remembering my name, even though they can see we worked for the same company -- it then stops me from connecting to anyone else, unless I have their current e-mail address. I am seen as spamming to stopped from doing it further.
It hasn't escaped me that if I had their e-mail address, I would already be able to connect to them away from LinkedIn of course...
Anyway, this is the message I now get:
"You cannot send invitations from this page because several recipients of your invitations indicated that they don’t know you. This safeguard is in place to prevent users from receiving unwanted invitations from people they don’t know. Customer Service can remove the restriction at anytime once you’ve indicated you understand the policy. Note that you can always invite another LinkedIn user by going to their profile and entering an email address."
I have said before that this policy on LinkedIn makes it counter-productive as a business networking site, akin to arranging a face to face breakfast networking event but warning each person who attends not to speak to strangers!
If life is this hard trying to network on LinkedIn with people it tells you you may know, how hard is it for using as a tool to broker valuable NEW relationships that aren't currently established? I suppose it's OK if you have one already established mutual connection in common, but what if it's more hops than that? Does anyone actually pass on invitations to connect when they know the requester and the target aren't known to each other? Especially when they know themselves, because LinkedIn tells them, that you should not connect to people you don't know.
LinkedIn continues to be big news because lots of people are on it, in much the same way that MySpace was a couple of years ago. But how long will it take people to get tired of just re-connecting with known people and start to crave a networking site where they can make new connections that are motivated by new business opportunities as opposed to sharing stories about past sales conferences?
It didn't take long for people to switch from MySpace to Facebook and what was perceived as a better range of useful tools. Could the business world's LinkedIn epiphany be just around the corner?
Ian Hendry
CEO, WeCanDo.BIZ
http://www.wecando.biz
PreviousComments on this post
Sounds like they are shooting themselves in the foot! Of course there is always the possibility that this is how they want things. A closed cartel.
This comment has been deleted at the users request
