Browsing the internet, I stumbled upon a comical sarcastic logo of LinkedIn. The image as portrayed below made me realize just how much I missed the good old days (2007ish) when SNS sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn had a real purpose, which was to connect. Those days of the past was when Facebook was open exclusively to college students and LinkedIn to career driven people.
The target user base was very clear and specific: networking.
Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, LinkedIn changed to what it is today.
If my recollection serves me right, LinkedIn in the early days followed a clear sound strategy that allowed mainly career driven people (professionals) to network among other members on the site. The networking capabilities of LinkedIn back in the day were priceless and the site became a powerhouse of was networking resources to establish legitimate connections among peers because the process of connecting with someone you know and then seeing who “they know” is a potential that can lead to many interesting results.
To add to the invaluable tool LinkedIn was made to be I personally know some people who have gotten into executive positions via LinkedIn or used it to make up a crew to start a venture (no bullshit).
How did LinkedIn Change?
As seen with many sites, as its popularity increases, so does the quality. In regards to LinkedIN, instead of being a networking site where professionals network, LinkedIn became a place for people to simply check out (spy/stalk/observe) what other people are doing (similar to facebook) and not establish any goal at all.
The case I am making is that the personal information that we put to establish credible relationships with potential peers just became a great source of information for people pretending to be “my” interested partner. If they aren’t pretending, they are either just “checking me out”.
Value of LinkedIn Endorsements?
How can the endorsement features on Linked be authenticated? It seems that this feature is so widely used, I start to question whether the endorsements I see are real or made for spamming objectives.
To me, the introduction of endorsements on LinkeIn, symbolized the death of “professionalism” the site used to have.
Recuiters Exploiting the Database
It also seems that with the lack of proper moderation, headhunters (recruiters) started appearing in the social networking site using LinkedIn for commercial gains. What most recruiters do is they target a large number of potential candidates for executive and management positions. This at first sounds great for many people looking for advanced positions in a job, but I get the notion that most of these recruiters don’t give a flying fuck about you or where you really end up. They are in it for the money!
As expected, well-respected members holding credible accounts and connections became targeted by headhunters whose quality of referrals is questionable.
So here you go!
CONNECT WITH PEOPLE FOR NO REASON AT ALL!
Don’t get me wrong because LinkedIn can help people find jobs but if an individual really wanted a job, I don’t think you need SNS or a bunch of headhunters to get a job.
In my philosophy, the most successful people are those who get what they want on their own.