The Danger of LinkedIn Addiction
Ray van den Bel, who I applaud for trying to reclaim the term “open networker” from meaning, “I’ll link with anybody,” tells of his experience shifting from a quantity focus on LinkedIn to a quality focus. This is a must-read.
There are quite a number of really addicted networkers now who are just adding quantity to their profile on LinkedIn. They are working on their LinkedIn quantities all day, neglecting their family, just hoping their LI-network will make a difference in their job. They totally forget they are just feeding their ego…
…
I chose to leave the path of quantity once I noticed that LinkedIn isn’t enabling quality networks at all. It doesn’t bring you anything, no real business even if you have 14.000 direct contacts like I have…. It’s just a phone book with no value.
LinkedIn Growing Faster than Facebook or MySpace
John Gartner at Marketing Shift observes that the latest Nielsen NetRatings numbers show LinkedIn growing at a faster rate (189% from October 2006 to October 2007) than Facebook (125%), based on unique visitors.
On LinkedIn’s viability:
If I were investing in one of these companies I’d go for LinkedIn because while they will never have the same volume of traffic, the more professional membership lends itself to much higher CPMs and to selling professional services, as the company has already done.
On his personal preference:
Maybe it’s my age (okay, yes it is my age), but I prefer to keep my social circle focused on people who I really know and do my socializing through email or on the phone with my expanded circle of friends and colleagues.
Walt Crawford at EContent writes about the proliferation of social networks and its effect on productivity, as well as the debasement of the meaning of the word “friend”. Here he describes the dilemma:
Most social networks reward those who take them seriously. That means investing serious time in them. When I wonder why I don’t see much benefit from a network, the response I get is consistent: You’re not spending enough time there. The net can be a time-sink under the best of circumstances. Too many social networks (particularly those with chat components) can take over your life.
Jeff Taylor on How to Use LinkedIn Effectively
Chip Griffin interviews (11-minute mp3) Jeff Taylor, Senior Vice President at Fleishman-Hillard Government Relations in Washington, DC, on his positive experiences with LinkedIn:
“In the early going I had no luck whatsoever,” Jeff Taylor told me of his experience with LinkedIn, likening it to his golf awakening. “For many years I didn’t play golf very well, then one day I hit the ball straight and I hit it 280 yards.”
And one day he received a lead from his LinkedIn connections that ended up netting his employer at the time, a law firm, a $500,000 account. He quickly became a believer.
PC World on LinkedIn vs. Facebook
PC World picks their top five business applications for Facebook. Their #2 pick? MyLinkedIn Profile. Here’s why:
…Facebook still gears its site towards the consumer experience. Though you can list your professional experience under the built in “Information” app of Facebook, it still doesn’t match the depth and breadth of the curriculum vitae that you can build on your LinkedIn profile and then share with other professionals.
Matt Dickman at MarketingProfs provides a video tour of LinkedIn, covering what it does well and what it needs to work on.
More notable quotes
I was originally doing it to advertise my editing business, but I found all sorts of people I’d lost track of, so that’s been pretty neat right there.
