Comments on: The Seduction of the LinkedIn Invite http://careercourageously.com/wordpress/2008/03/15/the-seduction-of-the-linkedin-invite/ Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:54:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Wendy Hoechstetter http://careercourageously.com/wordpress/2008/03/15/the-seduction-of-the-linkedin-invite/#comment-481 Wendy Hoechstetter Thu, 16 Oct 2008 05:13:40 +0000 http://careercourageously.com/wordpress/2008/03/15/the-seduction-of-the-linkedin-invite/#comment-481 Valerie, I *sooo* share your same perspective on this! I've reached a point where I actually consider these generic invitations outright offensive, especially when there's absolutely *zero* apparent reason why we might have anything in common, and/or they are located on the other side of the world. Sure, theoretically, almost anyone with a enough disposable income is at least a prospect for me, but I want a lot more than just a fish farm out of my connections. I like to use LI as a way to keep up with people I actually know, for one, and it's a *great* information resource on all kinds of different topics. As to the network being a way to connect with strangers we might otherwise never meet, that's already built right into the process, even if we only ever add people we know well to our own contact lists. Within as little as 2 or 3 degrees of separation, pretty much anyone will turn up probably hundreds, if not thousands or millions of connections we can tap in various ways. There's no way that almost anyone can possibly know everyone in their extended networks - and that is part of the whole point. Great blog, by the way! Valerie, I *sooo* share your same perspective on this! I’ve reached a point where I actually consider these generic invitations outright offensive, especially when there’s absolutely *zero* apparent reason why we might have anything in common, and/or they are located on the other side of the world. Sure, theoretically, almost anyone with a enough disposable income is at least a prospect for me, but I want a lot more than just a fish farm out of my connections. I like to use LI as a way to keep up with people I actually know, for one, and it’s a *great* information resource on all kinds of different topics.

As to the network being a way to connect with strangers we might otherwise never meet, that’s already built right into the process, even if we only ever add people we know well to our own contact lists. Within as little as 2 or 3 degrees of separation, pretty much anyone will turn up probably hundreds, if not thousands or millions of connections we can tap in various ways. There’s no way that almost anyone can possibly know everyone in their extended networks - and that is part of the whole point.

Great blog, by the way!

]]> By: Quality versus Quantity: The Dilemma of “Open” Networking | Career Courageously http://careercourageously.com/wordpress/2008/03/15/the-seduction-of-the-linkedin-invite/#comment-33 Quality versus Quantity: The Dilemma of “Open” Networking | Career Courageously Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:13:50 +0000 http://careercourageously.com/wordpress/2008/03/15/the-seduction-of-the-linkedin-invite/#comment-33 [...] « The Seduction of the LinkedIn Invite [...] [...] « The Seduction of the LinkedIn Invite [...]

]]> By: Valerie Gonyea http://careercourageously.com/wordpress/2008/03/15/the-seduction-of-the-linkedin-invite/#comment-32 Valerie Gonyea Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:35:14 +0000 http://careercourageously.com/wordpress/2008/03/15/the-seduction-of-the-linkedin-invite/#comment-32 Hi Alice, Thank you for stopping by and commenting and, yes, I am happy to answer any questions that I can. The answer to your first questions, when you receive an invitation in your email, there is a link at the bottom of it that says: "View invitation from Jane Doe" When you click on this then it bring you to the invitation, where the "From" field is a link to that person's profile. With regard to "rejecting" invitations, you have two options, which are not very obvious to most people. The first option is to "Archive" it and then the second is "I Don't Know Jane Doe". Be careful with the second option. If a profile gets 5 IDK's then their profile is frozen and they have to go through customer service to get it cleared up. There is a lot of debate and controversy regarding IDK that I don't have time to discuss here, but just be sensitive about using it. If you are unsure then "Archive" is generally the best option. You are correct about being concerned with who to accept and who not to accept. This, again, is a HUGE topic of debate much bigger than what would be appropriate here. What we can do, if you like, is the next time you get one, send it to me and we can walk through it together. You are definitely on the right path regarding the opportunities new connections bring. My point is if they cannot articulate their own value in MY terms (rather than focused on what is important to THEM) then why would I want to connect with them? Worse than that are the folks who don't bother saying anything at all, just using the canned invitation. I will tell you Alice, that my position appears to be on the Quality side of the Quality Versus Quantity argument and that my position seems to be the minority opinion. I hope this helps clarify for you. Valerie Hi Alice,

Thank you for stopping by and commenting and, yes, I am happy to answer any questions that I can.

The answer to your first questions, when you receive an invitation in your email, there is a link at the bottom of it that says:

“View invitation from Jane Doe”

When you click on this then it bring you to the invitation, where the “From” field is a link to that person’s profile.

With regard to “rejecting” invitations, you have two options, which are not very obvious to most people. The first option is to “Archive” it and then the second is “I Don’t Know Jane Doe”. Be careful with the second option. If a profile gets 5 IDK’s then their profile is frozen and they have to go through customer service to get it cleared up. There is a lot of debate and controversy regarding IDK that I don’t have time to discuss here, but just be sensitive about using it. If you are unsure then “Archive” is generally the best option.

You are correct about being concerned with who to accept and who not to accept. This, again, is a HUGE topic of debate much bigger than what would be appropriate here. What we can do, if you like, is the next time you get one, send it to me and we can walk through it together. You are definitely on the right path regarding the opportunities new connections bring. My point is if they cannot articulate their own value in MY terms (rather than focused on what is important to THEM) then why would I want to connect with them? Worse than that are the folks who don’t bother saying anything at all, just using the canned invitation. I will tell you Alice, that my position appears to be on the Quality side of the Quality Versus Quantity argument and that my position seems to be the minority opinion.

I hope this helps clarify for you.

Valerie

]]> By: Alice Goldberg http://careercourageously.com/wordpress/2008/03/15/the-seduction-of-the-linkedin-invite/#comment-31 Alice Goldberg Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:05:11 +0000 http://careercourageously.com/wordpress/2008/03/15/the-seduction-of-the-linkedin-invite/#comment-31 I don't use LinkedIn as much as I should. And, I am the first to admit that I don't know many of the features available to me as a LinkedIn user. Which leads me to a question that maybe you can answer? Am I able to look at the profile of an individual I don't recall/remember who sends me an invitation to join their network; the goal being to learn something about them that they failed to mention to me, e.g., who they are and how we are or should be connected? My knee jerk reaction when I receive a LinkedIn invitation from someone I don't know by name is to reject it. However, what I typically do first is let the invitation hang around in my email for awhile and try to ignore it as I am not sure how to manage it! For some reason, offhandedly accepting it feels like an invasion of privacy. It feels like opening the door to someone I can see through the "peephole" but don't know; clearly not as dangerous, but similar. And, rejecting it feels like possibly throwing away something/someone potentially very important. I ultimately erase the invitation from an unknown caller, however, I first "Google" their name, look at other friends links to see if the name shows up, etc. If I can't figure out who the invitation is from I feel a little used; certainly this individual has wasted my time. Returning to the subject of your essay, Valerie, one of the things that appeals to me about "networks" is the ability to "hook up" with people I don't know, individuals with whom I can share professional knowledge, experiences, etc. Valerie, you make the statement , "To me, a “network of connections” implies that my connections are actually people I have interacted with in one way or another either in person, over the phone, through email or online in a forum of some kind." Personally, I would welcome connections with people I've never interacted with in "any way" as long as they do as you say, "provide some context for the invitation; some reason for connecting. Reasons would include an industry, company or school in common; an interest in common, a professional objective in common….whatever. Just SOMETHING that shows you are interested in building a relationship with me." I like the idea that I might meet someone "new" who could change my professional life in a very positive way - it's intriguing. I had to giggle at the activity you referred to as, "increasing your connection count". I had not yet put into words what at a gut level I suspected...people are actually competing for the number of connections in their network. The concept of "connection count" fascinates me. There is probably intrinsic value in this activity yet to be revealed! I enjoyed your essay Valerie. Thank you for making me think about LinkedIn at a deeper level than I had to date! I don’t use LinkedIn as much as I should. And, I am the first to admit that I don’t know many of the features available to me as a LinkedIn user. Which leads me to a question that maybe you can answer? Am I able to look at the profile of an individual I don’t recall/remember who sends me an invitation to join their network; the goal being to learn something about them that they failed to mention to me, e.g., who they are and how we are or should be connected? My knee jerk reaction when I receive a LinkedIn invitation from someone I don’t know by name is to reject it. However, what I typically do first is let the invitation hang around in my email for awhile and try to ignore it as I am not sure how to manage it! For some reason, offhandedly accepting it feels like an invasion of privacy. It feels like opening the door to someone I can see through the “peephole” but don’t know; clearly not as dangerous, but similar. And, rejecting it feels like possibly throwing away something/someone potentially very important. I ultimately erase the invitation from an unknown caller, however, I first “Google” their name, look at other friends links to see if the name shows up, etc. If I can’t figure out who the invitation is from I feel a little used; certainly this individual has wasted my time.
Returning to the subject of your essay, Valerie, one of the things that appeals to me about “networks” is the ability to “hook up” with people I don’t know, individuals with whom I can share professional knowledge, experiences, etc. Valerie, you make the statement , “To me, a “network of connections” implies that my connections are actually people I have interacted with in one way or another either in person, over the phone, through email or online in a forum of some kind.”
Personally, I would welcome connections with people I’ve never interacted with in “any way” as long as they do as you say, “provide some context for the invitation; some reason for connecting. Reasons would include an industry, company or school in common; an interest in common, a professional objective in common….whatever. Just SOMETHING that shows you are interested in building a relationship with me.” I like the idea that I might meet someone “new” who could change my professional life in a very positive way - it’s intriguing.
I had to giggle at the activity you referred to as, “increasing your connection count”. I had not yet put into words what at a gut level I suspected…people are actually competing for the number of connections in their network. The concept of “connection count” fascinates me. There is probably intrinsic value in this activity yet to be revealed!
I enjoyed your essay Valerie. Thank you for making me think about LinkedIn at a deeper level than I had to date!

]]> By: Valerie Gonyea http://careercourageously.com/wordpress/2008/03/15/the-seduction-of-the-linkedin-invite/#comment-27 Valerie Gonyea Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:04:23 +0000 http://careercourageously.com/wordpress/2008/03/15/the-seduction-of-the-linkedin-invite/#comment-27 Hi Randy, Well, the answer to your question depends on how you define "make that yourself" ;-) I had the basic ideas of a very clean look, and the purple lion and purple in general. My amazing husband is the guy who spent hours finding the basic template and playing with fonts and formatting and layout. He is not a web designer - and after this project he is very happy to confirm that - but he slogged through in order to accomplish my vision. Thanks for your comment! Valerie Hi Randy,

Well, the answer to your question depends on how you define “make that yourself” ;-)

I had the basic ideas of a very clean look, and the purple lion and purple in general. My amazing husband is the guy who spent hours finding the basic template and playing with fonts and formatting and layout. He is not a web designer - and after this project he is very happy to confirm that - but he slogged through in order to accomplish my vision.

Thanks for your comment!
Valerie

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