OP here. So the FDR verbage is not popular.
Anyone willing to help write better text? Please email contact@stopusinglinkedin.com and we'll get it swapped out.
Apologies for the intro copy faux pas.
Stop Using LinkedIn
61–70 of 237 posts
Re: Stop Using LinkedIn
#62I know Linkedin isn't perfect, but it does have one single use case fulfilled for me - the ability to have just enough of a connection to ex-coworkers, so that in the future if our paths ever do have reason to cross again, it is easy to make that happen.
These aren't people I want to be on other social media with - they are purely coworkers who might be worth contacting again. And there are other ways to keep in touch... but for this particular use, Linkedin is a good option.
And because that is my primary purpose for having an account, I have no problems with API usage that is more restricted. I don't want an ecosystem built up around linkedin's data. I don't see any potential for that to improve my life.
Re: Stop Using LinkedIn
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
"pay me and I'll tell you"
I actually found that even if you pay there's STILL a lot of "people who've viewed you" that you can't actually view!
I'm actually partially responsible for this. I actually designed that product at LinkedIn.
There are some people who need to stay anonymous for various reasons including lawyers, M&A people, etc. The setting for how you show up in other people's who viewed your profile is controlled by the individual user. It is a privacy thing.
The messaging when upgrading used to be much more clear - you would get to see more people who viewed you as opposed to just the last few - not de-anonymize people. They seem to have made it more ambiguous since I left.
Re: Stop Using LinkedIn
#64Guessing that someone isn't happy that their lead generation app just lost its data input? This website is nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction that tries to rally readers by crafting a context that makes it sound as if LinkedIn's changes are not in the interest of the user. Yes, I would like open access to the API, but I'd gladly trade that if it helps reduce the volume of spam sales/recruitment inquiries I receiv…
Better integration doesn't mean spam (LinkedIn already has that feature in spades). It means allowing apps to leverage your work connections to provide better tools for you to use.
Re: Stop Using LinkedIn
#65They also recently put in some search restrictions, which for a very different set of reasons, makes me not like what they are doing.
Re: Stop Using LinkedIn
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
RIght. I went away with no frickin idea what they were talking about. So, no I don't care either. LinkedIn is THE way to connect professionally. Some API rant is not going to change that.
Could anyone break down for those of us who are engineers what it is that we should be concerned with about this?
It appears to me that LinkedIn is splitting their API into separate categories (Profile API, Company API, etc)
Going forward everyone will have to register and be approved in only 1 of the categories, meaning that if you are in the Company API, you won't be able to utilize features of the Profile API.
I don't know exactly what that means as far as specific features, but my guess is that if you're a company you won't be able to access personal profiles and feeds. I could be totally wrong about this but that's what it looks like.
Re: Stop Using LinkedIn
#67One of the "alternative" services these folks recommend is academia.edu - does anyone else find it really weird that a for-profit-not-even-remotely-degree-granting company is squatting in the .edu namespace?
Re: Stop Using LinkedIn
#68I am actually working on an alternative that would basically just be a resume API. This is nothing but good news for me.
I've built a small tool to aggregate profiles together and I use it for my hiring. It builds a profile that is a bit more useful than LI. http://ars.io
Re: Stop Using LinkedIn
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
RIght. I went away with no frickin idea what they were talking about. So, no I don't care either. LinkedIn is THE way to connect professionally. Some API rant is not going to change that.
Yeah. The site had no information on it. But I wonder, is LinkedIn really "the" way to connect professionally? My personal bit of anecdotal experience is that it isn't for me. I was on LinkedIn for maybe 15 years? I accepted everyone on LinkedIn (I was not discriminating at all). And in that 15 years, I never found one job through it. Right now in Seattle (where I've been for 10 years), I go through my "people I drin…
Similarly, I've been using it for 15 years. While I don't get jobs from recruiters either, I use it to keep connected to former colleagues even as they change jobs, email addresses, marriages and inter-state moves. This network gets me work.
Re: Stop Using LinkedIn
#70I hate LinkedIn, and wish it was not a de facto requirement for getting a job in certain industries/areas.
To make it not so, _users_ need to stop using Linked In.
This OP is very developer-focused in it's audience, it will not be clear to the non-developer user (or even to many developers) what they are talking about at all, or why it matters. It is written assuming you already know what they're talking about and already agree with them about it.
There are plenty of things that might matter to users and help convince users that Linked In is an untrustworthy company -- like, their email spamming/address-book-stealing practices. I was hoping the OP would be more user-focused in it's intended audience and more intentional in making a case.