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LinkedIn quietly removes option to export contacts

venturebeat.com

11–20 of 132 posts

Re: LinkedIn quietly removes option to export contacts

#13
post #8

LinkedIn is a worthless piece of spammy shit of a website these days. I haven't bothered deleting my account but I haven't logged into it in like a year now and any mail I get from them that somehow makes it through the filters is reported as spam. I can only surmise they made this change to make it harder for (more) people to bail because they know how dreadful using their site is now and this is an easier "fix" tha…

Agreed. LinkedIn used to be great, but is not completely unusable. The website itself is awful to use, but the community is even worse. It is now just a tool for shameless recruiters to spam left and right. I spent a lot of time working on my profile, clearly explaining that I reject connection requests from strangers, that I ignore messages for open jobs which don't include a certain set of items and I still get spa…

> The problem is LinkedIn gets its money from recruiters who signed up for premium accounts so they cater to them.

I never thought about it that way, but it makes perfect sense. I deleted my account sometime last year (I think), and I deal with no shitty recruiters now.

Re: LinkedIn quietly removes option to export contacts

#14

why hasn't anybody disrupted linkedin yet? what would you like to see instead of linkedin? snapchat for business professionals?

This is a good question.

First, I think that LinkedIn includes too many features. Influencers, groups, pulse and stuff like that. I'm still trying to find a use for groups. Something more focused on networking would be great.

Second, as I mentioned in a previous message, LinkedIn caters to recruiters because that's how they get their money, and to me it makes it insufferable. There is this running joke "Being a developer on LinkedIn is like being a woman on match.com".

I believe it would be really hard to monetize a sane and clean website for professionals without turning into this spamming juggernaut.

Re: LinkedIn quietly removes option to export contacts

#15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LinkedIn really is one of the worst websites I've ever used. I wish there were viable alternatives.

Are you for real or just exaggerating to add some unneeded emphasis to your disdain of LinkedIn? While I don't think LinkedIn is the shining star, it's definitely not one of the worst websites I've ever used; it's actually been quite helpful for connecting with people.

I can't talk about the interface but for people who don't have an account there, this website is absolutely hostile. (think: much worse than most)

I'm a calm person but I needed serious gmail filter tinkering to catch all those we-want-you-to-join-or-feel-bad emails.

Re: LinkedIn quietly removes option to export contacts

#16

why hasn't anybody disrupted linkedin yet? what would you like to see instead of linkedin? snapchat for business professionals?

I don't know that all business professionals can be catered to by the same service. I wonder if some (e.g., recruiters) have needs nearly diametrically opposed to others (e.g., developers).

Or maybe it's just a matter of getting the feature set right, something that seems rather off on LinkedIn now.

Re: LinkedIn quietly removes option to export contacts

#17
post #14

why hasn't anybody disrupted linkedin yet? what would you like to see instead of linkedin? snapchat for business professionals?

This is a good question. First, I think that LinkedIn includes too many features. Influencers, groups, pulse and stuff like that. I'm still trying to find a use for groups. Something more focused on networking would be great. Second, as I mentioned in a previous message, LinkedIn caters to recruiters because that's how they get their money, and to me it makes it insufferable. There is this running joke "Being a devel…

Ideally, the LinkedIn replacement would also be the recruiters replacement.

Anything that eases communication and discoverability between companies and professionals without either getting flooded with barely-relevant matches.

Re: LinkedIn quietly removes option to export contacts

#18
post #16

why hasn't anybody disrupted linkedin yet? what would you like to see instead of linkedin? snapchat for business professionals?

I don't know that all business professionals can be catered to by the same service. I wonder if some (e.g., recruiters) have needs nearly diametrically opposed to others (e.g., developers). Or maybe it's just a matter of getting the feature set right, something that seems rather off on LinkedIn now.

I think this is probably right. For example, the LinkedIn competitor OilPro is doing extremely well focusing on a specific oil and gas market segment. I think "LinkedIn for Computer Scientists" or more specific genres would do as well as OilPro.

Re: LinkedIn quietly removes option to export contacts

#20
post #5

They changed a process to make it slower?! o.O 3 days sounds an awful lot as if human intervention were required. What purpose would this serve?

"What purpose would this serve?"

Lock-in is the only answer that makes any kind of rational sense. The harder you make it to get your data out of any software/website the more friction you add to people who may want to try alternatives.

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