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Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

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Re: Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

#211

Post by johnklos »

Seriously: How do we know that these spammers who're using Wickr aren't directly paying LinkedIn and are being protected by LinkedIn?

People used to say I was nuts when I said LinkedIn outright make things up, that they try to track much more than they rightly ever should, and that they were doing nefarious things with the data they collect, but of course now we all know that was true. We don't even know the true extent of their fabrications.

Could LinkedIn be doing whatever it takes to make some extra money? It would neither be surprising nor unexpected in the least.

Re: Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

#212

Post by siskiyou »

mise_en_place wrote: post #200

Glad to see that spam is still well and alive in 2022, first we had enlarge your d*ck pills in email spam, now it's moved to all the social media platforms.

It first went mainstream on "social media" aka Usenet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Canter_and_Martha_Sie...

Re: Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

#213

Post by sva_ »

EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK wrote: post #54

Happened to me with telegram. Reported a scammer in relevant tg channels, next thing I know , several users reported me, and telegram blocked me for spam.

Telegram is the worst in terms of spam. I joined some public group chats related to my city and in the middle of the night those channels get spammed with Islamic State recruitment videos.

Re: Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

#214

Post by nullc »

johnklos wrote: post #211

Seriously: How do we know that these spammers who're using Wickr aren't directly paying LinkedIn and are being protected by LinkedIn? People used to say I was nuts when I said LinkedIn outright make things up, that they try to track much more than they rightly ever should, and that they were doing nefarious things with the data they collect, but of course now we all know that was true. We don't even know the true ext…

Why assume it's linkedin official policy rather than some rogue linkedin employees making money on the side?

Re: Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

#216

Post by wmeredith »

nullc wrote: post #214
johnklos wrote: post #211

Seriously: How do we know that these spammers who're using Wickr aren't directly paying LinkedIn and are being protected by LinkedIn? People used to say I was nuts when I said LinkedIn outright make things up, that they try to track much more than they rightly ever should, and that they were doing nefarious things with the data they collect, but of course now we all know that was true. We don't even know the true ext…

Why assume it's linkedin official policy rather than some rogue linkedin employees making money on the side?

Because they've had official policy that was user-hostile in the past.

For example: scraping user address books and sending all their contacts LinkedIn spam without asking permission.

Re: Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

#217

Post by soSadm4n »

Waterluvian wrote: post #210
soSadm4n wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend we let LinkedIn implode under the weight of useless spam and indifferent ownership. Network directly with engineers where they spend time online. Not recruiters in purpose built HR portals.

This is probably a good case to remind people: You ("engineers who want to network") are a small fraction of the LinkedIn userbase. You cannot begin to accurately grok how the vast majority of users use and feel about LinkedIn. Your opinions are valid (and I share them fully). But be careful not to assume that the way _you_ interact with LinkedIn is universally shared.

Yes the language is intentionally constrained to “network with other engineers.”

Thanks, I guess, for suggesting I keep a perspective I already had in mind (as evidenced by the constrained choice of words).

Re: Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

#219

Post by Root_Denied »

Waterluvian wrote: post #210
soSadm4n wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend we let LinkedIn implode under the weight of useless spam and indifferent ownership. Network directly with engineers where they spend time online. Not recruiters in purpose built HR portals.

This is probably a good case to remind people: You ("engineers who want to network") are a small fraction of the LinkedIn userbase. You cannot begin to accurately grok how the vast majority of users use and feel about LinkedIn. Your opinions are valid (and I share them fully). But be careful not to assume that the way _you_ interact with LinkedIn is universally shared.

Who are the predominant users of LinkedIn then? Marketing mostly, or is it recruiters? Startup founders? How do you measure "activity" in this scenario - is it public postings or are we including the private messages that people send about jobs?

I see a lot of useless posts end up on my feed - self congratulations and a lot of what equates to a press release for some product - but those have to target a user base of some kind that isn't there to just do that or it ends up being bots talking to bots (effectively), which is arguably bad for the company (e.g. bad for their valuation).

Seems like the largest userbase are mid-career white collar workers, even if they don't make up the majority (or even a plurality) of the public posts/interactions happening.

Similar to a gacha mobile game you need some minimum amount of userbase to create the environment where "whales" will be encouraged to engage with their money - in this case that's advertising revenue through sponsored posts and premium accounts.

Re: Tell HN: Banned from LinkedIn for Reporting Wickr Drug Spam

#220

Post by Tehchops »

mynegation wrote: post #205
toma_caliente wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Network directly with engineers where they spend time online Where would that be? I wouldn't recommend HN for networking purposes.

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