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LinkedIn: The Creepiest Social Network

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Re: LinkedIn: The Creepiest Social Network

#31

Post by vph »

speeder wrote: post #23

I just did a test and opened LinkedIn and took a look at the suggested people. They included: Several people with the same name as I (expected, not really creepy). But also: People that I trained martial arts with, and I NEVER exchanged electronic messages with them, and I do not talk with them for 4 years now. Also I doubt they remember me to search me, I am not much remarkable. People that I met at school and churc…

I am curious why this is supposedly creepy. I think the main premise of a social network is that you reach out or get reached out to people who might know you or you might know. Now, you have the option of not reaching out to those people, and I think it is fair game that the social network assumes that other members might reach out to you, a member of the network.

If you do not like that aspect of the social network, do not join it.

Re: LinkedIn: The Creepiest Social Network

#32

Post by joezydeco »

I think we all don't want to admit that we look up ex-girlfriends, neighbors, college roommates, etc. when we're on these social networks and we're bored (or lonely).

I searched for an ex once on LinkedIn and found nothing...until a year later when she finally signed on and there she was in my "you might know" suggestion list.

Re: LinkedIn: The Creepiest Social Network

#33

Post by base698 »

I routinely get suggested to connect with people I've never even emailed or who used email account I closed a decade ago.

It's reasons like this I wish someone would do a Public/Private key based p2p social network. Essentially you digitally sign a key that you know someone and that's how you derive connections. Seems like you could implement browsable profiles as well.

Re: LinkedIn: The Creepiest Social Network

#34

Post by jrochkind1 »

vidarh wrote: post #22
Caerus wrote: post #11

Facebook does the same thing and it's just as creepy. I closed my "real" account around 2011. A few months back I created a new blank account because I needed access to a couple organization's pages. The only information on that account is my name (a fairly common one) and an email address which is different from the one on my original account. It's possible they have some geographic info linking the two accounts as…

I set up a test Facebook account while doing a Facebook app that uses an e-mail address that has never been used for anything else. Yet it keeps suggesting people I actually know. The second account also does not have my full name (if it had my full name it'd be less weird, as my name to my knowledge is globally unique - there's only a few hundred people with my last name worldwide) The account has not been used for…

Cookies? From marketting networks?

It's amazing how much the marketting networks can figure out about you, and keep track of you with a cookie.

Re: LinkedIn: The Creepiest Social Network

#35

Post by rubinelli »

StavrosK wrote: post #28
vidarh wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I set up a test Facebook account while doing a Facebook app that uses an e-mail address that has never been used for anything else. Yet it keeps suggesting people I actually know. The second account also does not have my full name (if it had my full name it'd be less weird, as my name to my knowledge is globally unique - there's only a few hundred people with my last name worldwide) The account has not been used for…

> and that I've logged in to them from the same machine Wouldn't that be a dead giveaway?

> the "fake" e-mail address is a "real-user-part+something@gmail.com" address

If not the machine, then surely this.

Re: LinkedIn: The Creepiest Social Network

#36

Post by joezydeco »

vidarh wrote: post #17
joelandren wrote: post #12

Yes, I also noted the creepiness of "viewers of the profile also viewed." https://twitter.com/joelandren/status/251417778643406848 If I were a woman, I would be turned off to see something like this.

Yeah, I've noticed that quite often. If you happen onto the profile of pretty much any woman that's above average attractive (and quite a few that aren't) you get that. I don't think the same is case for the men, though perhaps I'm just blind to what women finds attractive in men...

I used to get really upset at the large number of local recruiting firms that used a revolving door of attractive women fresh out of college to work as external recruiters. They were energetic, friendly, and it's a lot harder to say no to a sales pitch when they're at your office door and smiling.

Now I can see that there's a secondary use for an attractive LinkedIn profile picture as well. That might have a lot more leverage than cold-calling offices these days.

Re: LinkedIn: The Creepiest Social Network

#37

Post by saraid216 »

TallGuyShort wrote: post #2

I've had the same experience. Register on LinkedIn, log in, "Would you like to connect with ?" We hadn't spoken in years or connected on any other site, I could only come up with one thing: she emailed me once. I bet she gave LinkedIn her email credentials to find connections. I hate that feature.

What confuses me is that I've had the correct contacts show up in Facebook for an email address no one else should know about.

Re: LinkedIn: The Creepiest Social Network

#38

Post by freshhawk »

base698 wrote: post #33

I routinely get suggested to connect with people I've never even emailed or who used email account I closed a decade ago. It's reasons like this I wish someone would do a Public/Private key based p2p social network. Essentially you digitally sign a key that you know someone and that's how you derive connections. Seems like you could implement browsable profiles as well.

Its a great idea, but I think everyone who has had it is stopped when they look at just how unwilling people are to exchange keys (or understand them) and how unwilling browser companies are to put effort into interfaces for managing keys (both of these obviously feed into each other).

Re: LinkedIn: The Creepiest Social Network

#40

Post by jtbigwoo »

There's a more benign answer to the creepy connection suggestions. LOTS of people import their email address books into linkedin. It's not a stretch to think that his girlfriend's mother (or some other relative) imported her address book that contained the names of both the OP and the girlfriend's stepfather.

As far as the creepier name mismatches go, my oldest email address list has tons of maiden names and unused/defunct email addresses. It's likely that some high school friend of the OP uploaded an old address book and LinkedIn's algorithm made a best effort match on some of the rarer names even if the email addresses don't match. I mean, how many Lucy Hatsbaughs do you think there are on linked in? Two? LinkedIn may as well gamble on odds like that.

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