We wrote a few days ago about some things people in our LinkedIn network said they liked and disliked about LinkedIn. We also asked them for some of their recommended Don'ts in using the site. Here you go...
- Don't connect to me and ask for an introduction to someone else in the same message or in the same day.
- Don't install the LinkedIn Outlook add-in without being prepared to spend time managing the changes that are suggested. The information is sometimes inconsistent and out of date.
- Don't get linked in to so called LIONs that have 1000s of connections which breaks the usefulness of the degrees of separation as you end up being linked to people with whom you have no meaningful connection.
- Don't use the introduction functionality. This responder said it tries to over automate a human process. If you have a second degree contact, e-mail your first degree contact and ask for a personal introduction. The automated route has a lower probability of success.
- Don't invite or accept invitations from people you do not know as it creates all sorts of hassles.
- Don't add too many applications to your profile as it makes it look confusing.
- Don't write a reference for someone on there on the same day they write one for you.
- Don't forget that in updating your status you could be revealing sensitive information about yourself/your business.
- Don't forget your boss could be watching your activity on LinkedIn and become suspicious/see you are job hunting if your usage becomes more active or out of the ordinary.
- Don't use it as a substitute for real contacts or face-to-face conversations. or use it as some kind of game to see how many contacts you can amass.
- Don't send out group messages via LinkedIn as it shares contact e-mail addresses. At least it did when we asked our network what they thought of LinkedIn.
And finally, one person said...
- Don't tell people what books you are reading or which airports you are travelling through as it's nerdy.
Comments