I’ll be posting a column shortly about today’s announcements from Apple, but first an apology. If you received a connection request from me through LinkedIn, I probably didn’t send it. LinkedIn sent it all by itself.
Twice now I’ve been faced with a dialog on the LinkedIn network where it proposes to blanket the world with link requests on my behalf. Twice now I’ve selected NO! and from the responses I’m getting in my e-mail twice now LinkedIn has gone ahead in and sent the requests defying my express orders.
Am I the only person experiencing this?
I’m a native English speaker and pretty good at reading the language, too, so I don’t think I’m sending the requests by mistake.
Of course LinkedIn support is useless and I can’t send messages to anyone in the organization without first upgrading my account, which costs money.
So this LinkedIn fiasco is also a form of extortion, getting me to upgrade just so someone will know I have a problem.
What kind of a company is this?
Given what I do for a living I thought I’d contact someone in LinkedIn PR, but unlike every other company I know of in America, they don’t include a contact e-mail or phone number on their press releases.
I guess reporters aren’t supposed to have questions.
I don’t think I’ve been hacked, despite the social network’s loss in June of several million passwords. I’m hoping this is just a bug in the latest version of their web code.
Next step is to telephone LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner. Now I won’t know for sure if he’s a Whiner or a Weener when I call, but I have a good idea which. Maybe both.
I’ll let you know what happens, and again I’m sorry for all the link requests. I may have to quit LinkedIn.
At least from what you say, you can quit Link…
was it Facebook? where you could join but not ever quit.
They do keep putting up a section of the front page where they try to get you to fill in your account details on another service so they can do the email suck and spray. They even helpfully name the fields so your browser will have filled them in. And unless you are paying diligent attention it is trivial to mix this up with the linkedin login itself.
This has happened to me as well. Lots of contacts emailed that are not even on LinkedIn.
You just discovered the reason I aborted my attempt to join LinkedIn. When I hit the request to spam everyone in my address book I pulled the plug on the attempt. But now the email address I used to start the sign-up process is getting flooded with spam, and it started about a week after the sign-up debacle. It may only be a coincidence, but I doubt it.
A pox on ALL their houses.
This is a similar story:
http://procrastineering.blogspot.de/2012/08/linked-in-fail.html
LinkedIn has become nothing but a spamming tool for job postings, mostly targeting off shore positions or Visa holders for short term contracting jobs.
A vast majority of LinkedIn users are merely recruiters looking to fill positions and get their pay. There are specific forums for jobs, and yet they insist on spamming technical discussion forums with job postings as well, not to mention the idiots who reply publicly to them with “I’m interested in this job, here’s my CV!”
LinkedIn can suck it.
I disabled my LinkedIn account after their last fiasco. I still get email for them which gets conveniently sent to spam where it belongs.
Seriously, in what way is LinkedIn actually useful? It seems to be like Match.com for under-employed people.
I like it because messages from recruiter allow me to keep tabs on what companies are hiring and at what rates for my specialty.
In the last 3 years I’ve been contacted seven times (unsolicited) by head hunters who were mining LinkedIn for qualified applicants. I turned down five of those seven head hunters because the jobs they were recruiting for would have required me to move, which we didn’t want to do. The other two jobs were life changing opportunities
So LinkedIn is a great tool for helping employers/recruiters find qualified candidates. By comparison, I have sent dozens of resume’s to jobs advertised on Monster.com. Long ago I stopped doing so because not once did I ever get any response beyond a form email.
This morning I received a spam email from LinkedIn, presumably sent to me by one of my contacts. I hate to see LinkedIn making this mistake because it truly is a useful network.
I have gotten two jobs from recruiters on Linkedin, which is two more than I got while spending an unemployed four months of filling out forms on Career Builder and other job sites.
I do get unsolicited email from recruiters from time to time, but it’s a small price to pay for my current job, which, like Montgomery’s, is a life-changing opportunity.
And I will third LinkedIn’s usefulness. Just like above, one or two opportunities over the years more than made up for small annoyances with the service.
However… it would be hard to forgive something like what happened to Bob. And not because it’s necessarily “spam” because, after all, linking account it what LinkedIn does. What I don’t understand is how it decides to allow a regular (non-premium) account issue blanket requests. They’re the ones that recommend and insist upon all links being meaningful, and give you tools for filtering random connection requests. And then they do something like this and undo everything. :/
Gee Bob, I thought you really wanted to Link Up!
Maybe LinkedIn is taking a cue from the all but useless MicroSoft warning messages. “Yes, I don’t want to not load insecure content.”
Mark
you seem to be surprised that the ‘vehicle’ used by individuals running ‘social networking’ operates like this. Seems perfectly standard corporate behaviour for employees to hide behind their employer from my worldview.
It is set in stone ‘corporations’ have no value system, an unlimited life and one core directive. Why would anyone get better treatment?
Well, go ahead and burst my bubble. I’m going to try to forget that I read this post, and go on thinking that I was important enough for you to want to connect.
+1
I was completely flattered that Bob had sent me a connect invitation having been a loyal reader for many years (and also working in the tech industry so a connection invitation sounded plausible). Totally burst my bubble too 🙁
If the invite remains open, Bob, I’m still up for it!
So what does it mean if I didn’t even get an invite by mistake!
I quit it yesterday. Exactly for this reason. They think because they provide free accounts, they can do what they want? As another commenter said, it turned out as just another spamming tool.
You aren’t alone. A local newspaper columnist complained about getting inundated by LinkedIn invites. I emailed her to suggest she contact LinkedIn’s CEO and post what happened with the conversation. She liked that idea and mentioned it in another column only she posted LinkedIn’s contact info so others could contact the twit personally.
I’ve managed to get every email address I use put on the “contact me again and I’ll hurt you” list. You might try that with LinkedIn’s CEO too.
And another thing. In doing some job searching, I’ve come across recruiters who want me to setup a profile on LinkedIn. I guess this is the new “Resume as a Word document” rather than a text file edited with vi.
“I can’t send messages to anyone in the organization”
Bob. You seem to be too locked into electronic communications. Think out of the box (computer) and WRITE directly to Jeff Weiner (CEO) at their Headquarters in 2029 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, California, 94043. Mark it “Private and confidential. For the peronal attention of Jeff Weiner (CEO)”. That will at least get it into his office.
I do this with all big companies I have problems with and have not failed to get a result yet.
You are in a better position than me as you can publish your “Dear Jeff” letter on this site too.
I’m glad I got out of Linked-In. I don’t miss it AT ALL.
I quit LinkedIn. Couldn’t have been happier to have left it behind:
https://www.hudin.com/blog/why-i-deleted-my-linkedin-profile/
I feel vindicated for never having joined Linkedin nor Facebook.
The same thing happened to me. It’s frustrating. The value/hassle ratio is nearing the point that I quit Linkedin.
Bob, I knew it was too good to be true but I didn’t want you to think that I wouldn’t be thrilled and delighted to be your Linked In friend…
Found this: http://help.linkedin.com/app/ask
Linkedin replies on a form of blackmail – I run a small business and I’m reasonably well known in the community that I work in … so I often get Linkedin “friend” requests from people who I have no clue who they are – that doesn’t mean that they don’t know me, just that I don’t remember who they were or when I met them. So I generally just ignore the requests unless I can figure out who they are … I can’t delete them or “unfriend” them because I don’t want to give them the impression that I don’t care … after all, they might want to buy something from me in the future.
That said – Linkedin has been interesting in getting me back in touch with people who I’d lost track of years ago – that’s kinda nice but hasn’t been of any practical use. On the other hand, I do have a little fun with my “skills” (you can add skills like “beer-drinking” and “cat wrangling”) and other parts of my profile – basically, I don’t take it too seriously but I’m there if someone want to look me up.
So Bob, how many friends do you have now?
Me too, I am just devastated, what an awesome extension to my network, and, pop! gone.
Thanks for the heads-up. I saw the request from you, and was surprised that someone famous would single me out. I had a fleeting, hopeful notion that maybe I (via my startup) was doing something interesting enough to get your attention, but I came to my senses and was simply confused. So again, thanks for the heads-up.
I don’t have a LinkedIn account. But out of nowhere a couple of weeks ago. I received two LinkedIn invitations from the same person who was on LinkedIn. (My guess is: I doubt meant to add me to their LinkedIn account.)
What user benefit is there to letting LI slurp your email address list? I use LI (and it has proved useful to me for job opps) but carefully manage my privacy preferences within it. There’s no way I’d let LI have my global address list, so the spam problem can’t happen.
I closed my lLinkedIn account as well. Tired of data mining.
Why are you on LinkedIn in the first place??? LinkedIn is for peddlers…
Yep, linkedin is a spam sender in my e-world and has been for years. I have always been linked-out, or is that out-linked. They are a lowly bunch…. Keep your heads down!
Ciao,
Bob
If you are a lawyer, or a psychotherapist, you have legal duties of confidentiality and you certainly don’t want your clients/patients being introduced to one another. But AFAIK there’s no way to avoid this if you use LinkedIn, Twitter, Yahoo, Google or any number of other sites that think they are doing you a favor by displaying People You Might Know. If anybody has a practical solution to this problem, other than becoming a hermit, please advise.
I quit LinkedIn a year or more ago when they started emailing newsletters and I couldn’t easily find a way to opt-out. I got a few complaints from friends but don’t miss being on it at all. In fact, I’m glad. I still get link requests so my attempt to quit getting email from that company is impossible. I’ll need to set up a mail rule and treat it like spam.
This has worked in the past for me:
LinkedIn is a publicly traded company which means their 10-K report is public on the web. Get it, then send snail mail to their VP of Operations or VP of Engineering explaining that they have two problems:
1.) Your actual problem
2.) Their system for reporting problems is broken.
Here: I’ll search it for you: http://press.linkedin.com/management
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[…] Grocery markets are going social. Philip Roth writes an open letter to Wikipedia. Robert Cringely is annoyed with LinkedIn. Tara Hornor says that Google Plus is a “station wagon with swag.” Attend this […]
[…] Grocery markets are going social. Philip Roth writes an open letter to Wikipedia. Robert Cringely is annoyed with LinkedIn. Tara Hornor says that Google Plus is a “station wagon with swag.” Attend this […]
Same thing happened to me. I agree with some of the above comments that they purposely put up a “login” box with fields designed to look like you need to fill it out to log in to Linkedin and it prefills with your email address but actually is a cross site box to your email account which they then spam. Like you I consider myself a careful reader and user yet I still “fell” for this trick. Very annoying and under handed.
[…] markets are going social. Philip Roth writes an open letter to Wikipedia. Robert Cringely is annoyed with LinkedIn. Tara Hornor says thatGoogle Plus is a “station wagon with swag.” Attend this […]
[…] Grocery markets are going social. Philip Roth writes an open letter to Wikipedia. Robert Cringely is annoyed with LinkedIn. Tara Hornor says that Google Plus is a “station wagon with swag.” Attend this […]
Hey Bob…welcome to the internet!
And here I thought this was part of Bob’s grand post-blog master plan. Or, maybe it is…
Reminds me of this (old but still great): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUdpj3gJofQ
[…] its page owners to pay for sponsored posts if they wish to be noticed by their own fans. LinkedIn spams connection requests that the account holder never authorized. Across multiple services, private users get paid for […]
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