LinkedIn is the network for professionals; whether you’re a self-employed entrepreneur or a cubicle slave, your profile there serves a very specific purpose.
Some seem to treat LinkedIn just like any other social network, such as Facebook and this approach is problematic.
Connecting with others on LinkedIn should be reserved for those types of contacts, in my not-so-humble opinion:
- Past & present coworkers, clients or employers.
- Associates you want to network with on business matters.
- Business contacts you want to associate with for future projects.
LinkedIn is not recommended for the following functions:
- Dating. If you think an executive is hot, don’t stalk her on LinkedIn.
- Shooting the shit. This isn’t Facebook, period.
- Daily chatting on anything and everything. Use twitter or join a forum.
There are several fake profiles out there [this one of scammer Starlita Similien aka Andrea Jamie Deluca], some of which also use fake pictures. One such profile is below; the photo is that of actress Kristen Stewart from Twilight Saga.
“Brittney” tried to connect with me and we share 40 common connections – which means, that 40 people were conned by her fake profile.
So be careful out there.
It’s Brittney, bitch!
agree Theo. I probably decline just as many invitations to connect as I accept. This may bug some people, but honestly, if we have no prior context or connection, and they are not in an industry that I find relevant, do not share any of the same groups, etc, then what reason do I have to connect? I am not concerned with having ‘500+’ connections in my network. The number alone is meaningless. Similarly with twitter, I see some people have tens of thousands of followers, or more, but its because they’re using some script or something to auto-tweet famous quotes 24/7. I would unfollow my own mother if that’s all she tweeted.