
Viadeo: Nipping at LinkedIn's heels - e15ctr0n
http://www.economist.com/news/business/21612178-second-largest-professional-social-network-scrambling-make-its-mark-nipping
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jerhinesmith
Honest question for the engineers/programmers in here that are also on
LinkedIn:

Have you gotten any value from LinkedIn?

I realized a few weeks ago that 1) I have a LinkedIn account, 2) I make semi-
regular updates to my LinkedIn account, 3) to my knowledge, I have received
exactly zero value from having a LinkedIn account. It feels like this weird
social network where they've convinced everyone that they _have_ to have an
account/profile, but nobody really knows why.

I guess I'm curious if other people have had better/different experiences.

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benmanns
The only value I have gotten out of my profile is that it grants me the
ability to see _other_ people's profiles. Though, perhaps the fact that others
can see info about me is some value to me also.

~~~
jerhinesmith
The "others can see info about me" is the value that I've landed on in my
head. I don't recall ever getting a valuable message _through_ the LinkedIn
platform, but I will concede that there's possibly passive value in having an
account as the absence of one could be a red flag for future potential
employers.

That said, I'm also unconvinced that I want/need to be passively recruited at
this point in my career.

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daledavies
Well, it's a single place where recruiters can go to find all the relevant
information about me, I direct them there from my website etc. I also
participate in a few relevant industry groups which has garnered some
attention to my work.

I suppose because everything I do on linkedin is connected in the way that
social networks connect everything together it has helped raise my web profile
higher than just having my website would.

It also means I can use my website as a sales pitch, funnelling interested
parties off to LinkedIn if they require more details about my professional
history.

I have also had several interviews with companies and a job offer because of
LinkedIn, although none of the opportunities were actually quite right for me.

So same answer as bastijn really, I think it offers some benefit, because its
there and everyone seems to be on it.

