I really despise LinkedIn. A while back I got sick of their emails, so I attempted to unsubscribe, which failed (I got more emails), so I attempted to cancel my account, which also failed. When the news came out about their encrypted passwords getting leaked (and cracked), I took another stab at canceling my account, and that time appeared to be successful because I now seem to be rid of them once and for all.
LinkedIn is a Virus
41–50 of 113 posts
Re: LinkedIn is a Virus
#42Happened to me a few months ago, didn't delete my linked in account, but pretty much stopped using it.
Re: LinkedIn is a Virus
#43This is wildly off topic, but I'm genuinely curious... What is with the profile pictures of people looking up and to the right, with usually a circular gradient solid color background? I see it a lot in the SV/tech industry, and am wondering if it's a particular "startup photographer", or some meme I don't know about. Any ideas?
There was a study done that said that people not looking at the camera are found to be more attractive then those who look directly into the lens. Also, the left side of your face is more attractive than the right.[1]
[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/21/face-left-side-more...
Re: LinkedIn is a Virus
#44Am I the only one who read that and thought "perhaps you should have paid attention to what you were doing?" I know it sounds dickish, but seriously, why not own up to the fact that not every user interface is tailored to you, and that sometimes you are fallible?
Re: LinkedIn is a Virus
#45LinkedIn is a Scala shop. So if LinkedIn is a virus, I think that's a first for the Scala language. "Scala, good for viruses too!" :O
Re: LinkedIn is a Virus
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've found linkedin to be massively useful when looking for new contracts. I'm a contractor based in the UK.
any tips you could give?
Cultivate connections with people you know and trust, rely on their connections instead of trying to force connections with people you don't know.
The power of linked in isn't building a giant list of everyone who is related to you, it's building a tiny list of really awesome people who have a tiny list of really awesome people who have a tiny list of really awesome people...
TL;DR: If you curate content, don't be surprised if the quality rises.
EDIT: This is the perspective of a more introverted type who tries to build fewer strong connections instead of many weak connections. If you can build and maintain many weak connections effectively, go ahead! I just know that I absolutely cannot maintain those well, and prefer to network with those who can and rely on them to maintain those connections.
Re: LinkedIn is a Virus
#47Am I the only one who read that and thought "perhaps you should have paid attention to what you were doing?" I know it sounds dickish, but seriously, why not own up to the fact that not every user interface is tailored to you, and that sometimes you are fallible?
I'd like to see screenshots of the interface before judging if its deception or user error. Also, sounds like it had a positive effect on your life - old friends happy to hear from you.
Re: LinkedIn is a Virus
#48There is surprise when an address book with over 1000 entries is voluntarily connected to a commercial service designed to link people together? Surprise when closing a browser tab does not stop the request from running at LinkedIn? Calling it a virus is disingenuous at best. Edit: ... or a way to get page views.
This, wait... no, sorry, not this. Joking aside; the first button is one that deselects all contacts and they mention the numbers of connections to be created right in the top. Here it is: http://i.imgur.com/3qiT140.jpg
I do hate LinkedIn but for very different reasons, like pretending is a safety measure to not connect with strangers and then charging you for a premium service for direct-emailing anyone you want.
Re: LinkedIn is a Virus
#49Rule 1: Make sure your linkedin password is not the same as your gmail password. I've tried to login to linkedin a couple of times in too much of a hurry, thinking I was logging into linkedin from some request and not reading the actual page. Luckily my passwords are different. I'd have to say I'm not sure how someone who is tech savvy can knowingly give a company their gmail account info and expect nothing bad to ha…
A lot of those websites scan your address book and show you people that are already on the site and then ask you to send emails to people who aren't. It's reasonable to not know that 11,000 people would be on linked in. Also Linkedin isn't exactly a website that he "wasn't sure about". Everyone knows what the site is and does. Also your Rule 1 is kinda silly. I guess as long as I keep the passwords to those to sites…
No, you won't be safe, but you won't accidentally log into your gmail account from Linkedin. This is specifically about Linkedin, because it's asking for your gmail credentials and if in a hurry, as I often am and don't go to linkedin that often, I mistakenly enter my linkedin password thinking it's telling me I am not logged in.
I agree that letting linkedin in scan your 11,000 contacts is going to be faster, but seriously, how many contacts are useful? I have less than 100, and some of those are kind of iffy. Unless you are a recruiter that has a use for perusing random resumes, it seems unlikely to get much value from having 10k profiles linked.
Re: LinkedIn is a Virus
#50There is surprise when an address book with over 1000 entries is voluntarily connected to a commercial service designed to link people together? Surprise when closing a browser tab does not stop the request from running at LinkedIn? Calling it a virus is disingenuous at best. Edit: ... or a way to get page views.
I think people have a right to expect "find contacts in your address book" not to mean "indiscriminately spam contacts in your address book", especially from a service marketing itself as being a professional network and whose user guidelines expressly forbid you from connecting with people you do not know. Its UI explicitly violates the guidelines it expects users to follow by defaulting to inviting people -thousands at once- and not asking you to confirm the nature of your relationship, never mind giving you the chance to personalise your email.
For that reason I've purposely avoided intentionally connecting my address book to LinkedIn (other than registering with a gmail contact address) and yet all its "suggested contacts" are clearly people I once shared gmail mailing lists with. It's clearly pretty aggressive about finding contacts in address books at one end or another.
It's not like the UI behaviour is consistent - sometimes clicking "connect" on an individual's profile allows you to edit a message before sending it, sometimes it sends the autoinvite email without further prompting (which is a great way to look like a dick to someone you haven't spoken with in three years). Sometimes if you choose not to edit an English message it decides to edit it for you, sending a user you've corresponded with elsewhere exclusively in English an invitation in German. Basically, if you designed a tool to help people piss off their business contacts, you'd probably come up with LinkedIn.
And yeah, some people don't know what browser tabs do. But it's not like LinkedIn has a visible "undo" feature...