
All LinkedIn with Nowhere to Go - Futurebot
http://thebaffler.com/salvos/all-linkedin-with-nowhere-to-go
======
jroseattle
I think LinkedIn really missed the opportunity to change the way our culture
thinks about work and professional communication.

Another commenter called LI a glorified resume service, which really nails the
point. Resumes from 20 years ago are no different from the current LinkedIn
profile; the only incremental signal is the connection base...and that's only
a signal if that information is public.

The fact that LinkedIn's big revenue draw is simply recruiters paying for
access to the full network is really indicative of the lack of creativity in
changing the paradigm of thought around professional networks.

~~~
throwaway5752
I don't know. They focus on the professional: marketing themselves, finding
jobs, keeping in touch with people...

There's no shame in a resume service with a social component. They bought
Slideshare which - in my way of looking at things - forwards how they help
people market themselves. Maybe they could probably do more with coding
ability tests or partner with online education, but that's probably premature.

~~~
jroseattle
Sure, but I just find that focus incredibly uninspiring.

Twitter, FB, Instagram...they changed the way we communicate to those circles.
Not that an equivalent parallel exists for LinkedIn, but it's like they're not
really trying.

~~~
formula1
A real world use can often be uninspiring. What would make solving a real
world problem more interesting to you?

~~~
jroseattle
LinkedIn essentially has the graph of business professionals in the US and
abroad. It's not the same as connection on FB or Twitter or elsewhere -- there
is greater context.

And yet, the features of LinkedIn are essentially _just_ the connection base,
and marketing to the network.

It seems there is much greater depth that could be explored there, and that
LinkedIn could be so much more than the Great Public Rolodex that it is.

------
blowski
A few years back, I found myself saying to a friend "I have no choice but to
have a LinkedIn account". I realised how ridiculous that was, and within days,
I deleted the account. I have not suffered in any way since, and have
definitely benefited from not having constant spammy job offers.

~~~
incepted
> I have not suffered in any way

You don't really know that, maybe you missed out on interesting jobs and
you'll never know.

At the very least, receiving recruiter emails from LinkedIn allows me to do
networking and meet a lot of influential people at various companies, even if
I don't end up landing a job there. It also builds my recruiter network, which
is never a bad thing: if I ever need a job one day, I am planning to spam my
entire network of recruiter, let them know exactly what I'm looking for and
let them do the work for me. It goes both ways.

I respect deciding to opt out of LinkedIn but there is an opportunity cost to
such a decision that you seem to have overlooked.

~~~
AznHisoka
If his current situation is good who cares what other jobs he missed out on?
More options isn't always worth the sacrifice of being distracted

~~~
incepted
Not always, but how distracting is it really?

Obviously, everyone will be different but I get 2-3 emails from recruiters on
LinkedIn _per week_. Managing them takes me about one minute per week.

Compared to the number of times where I ended up on a phone call or having
lunch/coffee with a CTO, VP of Eng, architect or senior engineer, it's totally
worth it to me.

My suggestion: don't cut out that option until it really becomes unmanageable.
Chances are you'll find it's worth the occasional disturbance.

~~~
sdegutis
Well, unless you're actually really happy with your current employment and
income. In that case, why even bother looking for something "better"? At that
point that's just greedy.

~~~
incepted
The best time to interview is precisely when you're happy with your job.

You have zero pressure, you can practice interviewing, network and you can
make extravagant requirements. If it doesn't work out, no big deal, you like
where you are. But if it does, your career can make quantum leaps.

~~~
bronson
Free time is limited. I'd like to spend it doing something more rewarding than
job hunting.

~~~
incepted
Job hunting can be a life changing moment. Something that will, literally,
affect the rest of your life. If only because salary increases compound over
an entire lifetime of working.

In other words, a $10k increase in salary might not seem much but it will add
up, and not only will raises compound as well but future jobs will start at a
higher negotiation level as well.

Of course, spend your time wisely but I think it's really short sighted to
think "I'm happy at my job, I am going to completely block out all the
recruiters out there".

------
kristianc
I wonder what kind of job opportunity it is that's both:

1) Worth following up on

2) Not worth the recruiter going to the trouble of finding your contact
details through GitHub/your personal site.

It seems like the very lowest common denominator way of finding people, which
would suggest that it would also have the lowest common denominator
applicants, and the lowest common denominator jobs.

Much of this thread is 'What might you be missing out on' but I see developers
who have chosen to own their own career identity and not federate it through a
platform that every other attention seeking bozo is on doing just fine.

~~~
coldtea
> _I wonder what kind of job opportunity it is that 's both_

For most programmers (and even more so other professions), outside of the
Valley, most job opportunities are not like "recruiter finding you", and going
out of their way to offer you some job.

Rather you apply to them -- and usually with lots of people competing.

~~~
Spooky23
It's a good way to validate resumes and get informal low-down on folks.

I've both unmasked bullshit artists and gotten better context on awesome
people with bad resumes because of LinkedIn. I wouldn't pay a nickel for it
though.

------
throwaway5752
I don't know what the author thought they'd get out of the relationship. LI
has to make money, and as a non-recruiter/non-professional account I accept
the occasional undesired recruiting email or unsolicited accounts from
strangers as part of the price paid. It's a nice way to have a networked
resume, and I have never gotten a job through it but have gotten several high-
quality inquiries that I would have pursued if circumstances at the time had
not been different.

I don't expect it to magically connect me with people I don't know or to
afford me access to insights of business thought leaders. The dynamic of those
two (working with great people that you mutually respect for networking, and
building relationships over time with mentors to earn their trust and
insights) will not change substantially with technology, LinkedIn or
otherwise. It only reflects those connections, it doesn't create them.

As a networked resume, again, it's perfectly adequate.

------
abhi3
One thing I find surprising is how most people will have completely relaxed
privacy controls on LinkedIn vs FB&others

 _Better make my instagram private so no one can see my cat and food photos
but hey let me put my entire CV and educational history along with contact
info on the internet for anyone to look up_

~~~
kristiandupont
I am pretty lax with my LinkedIn account. How could knowledge about
educational history harm me?

------
dandare
"It’s an Escher staircase masquerading as a career ladder." What an
imaginative parable, bravo!

------
cbowal
Should be marked [2013]

~~~
kristianc
I had no idea that this was from 2013, and it's faintly amusing that so little
has changed about LinkedIn since.

------
LargeCompanies
Maybe the author is not a coder?

LinkedIn is incredibly useful due to recruiters hitting up us coders a few
times a week selling us on some new and better job then the one you have
currently. It's how you can give yourself a huge raise with each new job or
contract job you decide to pursue & land.

I often wonder if those in other fields outside of coding experience a similar
flood of opportunities or not?

~~~
joezydeco
_...recruiters hitting up us coders a few times a week selling us on some new
and better job..._

Let's not fail to mention recruiters that cold call you _at your place of
employment_ , and are too dense to understand why you might possibly be upset
at this.

~~~
LargeCompanies
Why would u ever give them your work number, personal phone number or real
email address? Give them your spam info...google voice number and spam email
account.

Further I've never experienced a recruiter calling my current place of work
(wouldn't he or she be fired?) and I often am and or can be vague re: where
I'm actually working. Especially if you note you are working for some random
govt. or contracting company.

~~~
joezydeco
I list my current company, branch location, and personal email address NOT my
company one. No phone numbers at all.

Recruiters will still call the main company number and ask to be transferred
to me. We're not a large place, so a receptionist physically takes the call.
Oh yeah, she also serves as secretary for the VPs and our HR department.

And I still get email at my company address. We have a pretty standard
first.last@company format.

I could choose to obsfucate my employer and location, but IMO that kind of
defeats the purpose of keeping my profile current.

------
IamFermat
Linkedin is a bit like MySpace (not as bad) circa 2008, totally waiting for a
Facebook to come and disrupt it. Only a matter of time.

------
gjolund
Linkedin is the only social network profile I actively maintain.

FB, G+, Twitter, Snapchat and the like add no value to my life at all. If
anything they are just another source of annoying notifications.

Linkedin has gotten me several hundred thousand dollars worth of contracts.
Enough said.

------
sparkzilla
The article is old (2013) so there's no mention of how LinkedIn's newsfeed is
moving the site towards a work-related version of Facebook, which poses two
questions: 1) can LinkedIn compete with Facebook? and 2) Will FB add features
for professionals?

------
eternalban
Anyone here has info on this outfit?
[http://us.viadeo.com/en/](http://us.viadeo.com/en/)

~~~
emilburzo
I've found out that a good way to find out more about $website, is to just
read the reviews on their published app (if they have one, of course)

[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.viadeo.and...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.viadeo.android)

First review:

> Annoying app It takes all your personal info and gives you nothing..... And
> it keeps telling server problem and I rated it 5 star just to make people
> see what I wrote ..... I do not recommende it ..... A lot of promises little
> give

The rest of the reviews aren't very promising, either.

------
Missopen
Microsoft Support Ending for Project Spark read full story here...
[http://www.coveragemail.com/technology/microsoft-support-
end...](http://www.coveragemail.com/technology/microsoft-support-ending-for-
project-spark/)

~~~
tamana
Wrong HN page:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11694842](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11694842)

