LINKED OUT BY LINKED IN

What on earth gives networking platforms in the internet their legitimacy? Quite simple: they are supposed to bring people together, for the growth of their networks and enterprises. Simple as that. Bamm.

For this reason I am wondering where LinkedIn derives its legitimation from. Because, instead of bringing people together, it gets them lost in a maze of useless information.

Originally, I joined the platform because it had been brought to my attention that it enjoys a greater popularity amongst English and US American colleagues and entrepreneurs, than for example Xing. Those are quite frankly the markets that interest me most due to their role model function for many other markets.

However, the more I get to know LinkedIn, the more bewildered I get about its success. Those of you who know or use the platform will know exactly what I am talking about.

For years I have also been using Xing, another business networking platform which is more popular with the continental European as well as South American business people and with Xing you at least get reasonable value for your money. You pay something like 5 Euros a month, can approach as many people directly with a contact request as you like and can see precisely who of the members has been looking at your profile so you can follow up if you find any of the “voyeurs” interesting.

LinkedIn however charges between 25 and 500 dollars a month (wtf?!?? NO, there aren’t any hookers, designer drugs or short holidays included!), limits the number of people you are allowed to contact directly and gives you no exact information on who has checked you out. No value for lots of money, I would say.

You get reports stating things like: “In the last 12 days your profile has been viewed by 25 people”. Full of expectation you hit the link curious to find out who these people were. You are then bound to be disappointed because the answers you are hoping for are not given. Instead, you are fobbed of with statements like: “Somebody from the marketing and communications industry in the London area”… Now, what sense does that make? And when you try to research a little bit deeper, you land on a page where you are presented with about 5.000 different and unknown people who are in the biz in the London area… Well, thank you very much, LinkedIn.

We are all busy people and time is a rather precious and limited resource. Have I got time to be linked out by LinkedIn? Have I got enough money to get ripped off and spend on a service which doesn’t deserve the name?

I don’t think so. What about you?

Yours,

Brian B. Ashes