I’m on LinkedIn and Facebook, and I’ve found LinkedIn just ever-so-mildly useful, and Facebook not at all — at least not yet — but I’ve noticed the volume of invites is picking up.
Wondering about a few things:
- What’s the etiquette on these? How rude is it to ignore or reject requests from folks you know well enough to say “hi” to in a coffee shop, but not well enough to ever recommend for a job or accept a social invitation from them?
- Is it acceptable to request endorsements or recommendations? I have a few recommendations on LinkedIn, though not as many as I’d like, and I’ve received a few requests for recommendations — most of which I’m happy to oblige, but a couple that were from former co-workers I don’t feel I know well enough to recommend.
Which is not to say anything negative about the person, just that I don’t necessarily feel I can actually say “yeah, they’re super” with gusto. And, I’d hate to damn someone with faint praise or render the whole concept meaningless… though perhaps the recommendations are really as meaningless as the connections, and it’s just considered de rigueur to grant a recommendation when asked. (If you look on my profile at the folks I’ve endorsed, though, I do heartily stand behind those endorsements.)
- Are they actually useful? They’re very much hyped, but are they actually useful? If so, please share.
Oh, and I can’t let a post about LinkedIn go by without a comment about its ridiculous pricing structure. They offer free accounts, which are somewhat limited, and then the next account level starts at nearly $20 a month.
That’s just freaking ridiculous, folks. The LinkedIn folks would make a lot more dough if they offered a $20 a year account or $5 a month account. I’m not paying $20 a month for the privilege of slightly more convenient “introductions” and whatever. Drop the price, find some way to add additional value, or something… but $240 a year isn’t going to fly with the present offerings.
Would love to hear other folks thoughts on these services.
I’ve yet to find a use for LinkedIn, but that’s mainly because I keep getting link requests from people in my company I’ve never met who are just trying to build as big of a network as possible (most likely for recruiting purposes when they leave).
Facebook, on the other hand, I’ve found very useful. I’ve used it to do what classmates.com claims to be for or wayn.com is meant for. I use it for re-connecting with old friends I lost contact with as a result of everyone leaving my home-town once they finish high school (like I did).
Given how I use facebook, I’m perfectly happy granting/making requests to people I’d only say hi to on the street, since facebook is (to me) that street.