LinkedIn

[Steve Pavlina]

A lot of people have suggested I look into joining LinkedIn. Today I finally took the plunge and created a profile there at Steve Pavlina - LinkedIn. It didn't take long to input some basic info.

I'm not sure how beneficial it will be, but I figure it couldn't hurt to build a larger network of contacts before my book comes out. Maybe I can make some new PR connections or get some new speaking engagements.

When I signed up, I learned I already had several invites from other members, some from people I know. I guess those were queued to my name. I went ahead and accepted those.

Some invites were from people I don't know. Should I accept or decline those invites?

Is the idea to build the biggest network I can, or should I be more selective?

I don't know how the overal system works, so I'd appreciate any advice on using it effectively.

Is LinkedIn a bad idea for someone like me who already has a fairly high profile? If I were to announce this in my blog, would I end up regretting it?

[1000feet]

Several popular bloggers (such as Guy Kawasaki) make their LinkedIn page easy to find - I don't know if they necessarily accept every request though. I haven't used the site too much myself, but I recently added a lot of people that I know so I could use it to search for specific kinds of people that they might know.

As far as I can tell, having more people in your network is usually good because you can see who they know and it's easier to contact those people. Plus, if the other person invited you to join their network they probably wouldn't hesitate to introduce you to someone you want to meet.

Personally I wouldn't turn down an invitation from anyone that I know of, but I'm not quite as famous so I don't know what the effect of having one-sided relationships in my network would be. It does increase the information available to you though, which is the whole point of the site.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

A lot of people have suggested I look into joining LinkedIn. Today I finally took the plunge and created a profile there at Steve Pavlina - LinkedIn. It didn't take long to input some basic info.

I'm not sure how beneficial it will be, but I figure it couldn't hurt to build a larger network of contacts before my book comes out. Maybe I can make some new PR connections or get some new speaking engagements.

When I signed up, I learned I already had several invites from other members, some from people I know. I guess those were queued to my name. I went ahead and accepted those.

Some invites were from people I don't know. Should I accept or decline those invites?

Is the idea to build the biggest network I can, or should I be more selective?

I don't know how the overal system works, so I'd appreciate any advice on using it effectively.

Is LinkedIn a bad idea for someone like me who already has a fairly high profile? If I were to announce this in my blog, would I end up regretting it?

I'd have to take a look at it (seems like a good idea, so I will), but it looks a lot like MySpace in terms of the general (not specific) functionality and social networking "skeleton" that it's built on. I recently created a MySpace account after much prompting from people around me and pure interest in potential, and since I'm fairly certain the two are very similar, I'll explain my experience of it. (Plus we’re both good at patterning and seeing the essential nature of things behind the details, so this perspective should resonate with you.)

My explanation of social networking via MySpace

MySpace has the functionality of many different online systems:

• a personal blog (since you can fairly easily display and publish information—and also have that info commented on)
• contact form-like functionality
• instant messenger functionality (in that you can block people from seeing or commenting on your profile if you wish)
• bulletin board functionality

What separates it apart from a blog or website or anything else that I mentioned is the "networking" aspect of it in that you can create, expand, or shrink your network of contacts and friends at your leisure (although, just like in the real world, it may have real-life side effects, positive or negative) and, depending on your permissions, other people can see a digital representation of that network (unlike in real life, where everyone's contact details and info is kind of hidden unless you ask people for it). Unlike public forums, sites like MySpace make it very easy for you to browse through your contacts and see their networks, and the networks of their networks, etc.

What I use MySpace for

That's all well and good, but what do I actually use it for?

When I first joined MySpace a friend helped me get started (she very briefly explained some basics and added me as a friend), and from there, she let a few of her contacts know I created an account and they added me as a friend, too. I wasn’t (and am still not) interested in the “shotgun”, “how many friends can I get?!?!” approach, and wanted to use it more selectively to communicate with people I give a darn about, not just random people I don’t know.

Today, I use it to keep in touch with friends and people I know who don't really use email and prefer the "social" aspect of being able to have brief, instant messenger-like discussions while having the luxury of not having to deal with things in real time (like a forum). (Even if I don’t really engage in those things.)

I personally don't use it often for anything other than what I mentioned above--I just have my profile information there (which is currently private and viable by people I accept as friends only) and one blog post I made (also private) just to test out how the blog system works there and what the reaction to it would be like to see if it was a decent way to communicate (it wasn’t; people largely didn’t notice it)--but people send me messages via my profile occasionally and I get a notification sent to my email. Since I’m fairly tech/web savvy, I don’t really use the blog or bulletin functionality since more specialised options are better if I want say, a blog, but you can go for the “all of the above” option if you wanted or pick and choose at your leisure.

Sometimes I check out the profiles of friends to see if they have any updates, since on MySpace you can post (A) blog posts, (B) bulletins, which are like blog posts but are auto-removed after a period of days, and (C) post public comments on your profile or on the profile of others, and have others do the same. So if you haven't been able to catch up with someone in "real life" recently, you can at least get a sense for what they've been doing by checking their profile (assuming they update it) or sending them a message or comment.

So to sum up what I use it for:

I use it to keep in contact with those between the world of email and real-life (people who are computer literate, but perhaps not computer savvy or, at least, enjoy the novelty aspect of the social networking functionality).

Facebook, from what I've seen of it, seems to function similarly.

How you should use these social networking sites

I don't think these sites have one specific "ideal" usage, but rather lend themselves to many different uses, depending on what you're looking for. (I had the same questions you had when I first joined MySpace. I got my answers over time.) Some people use these systems constructively; some people simply do it to “kill time” (yes, it blows my mind, too).

In terms of how selective you want to be, since you already make it pretty easy for people to contact you online, I'd say it depends on what you want to use the service for. I think it could be a rich networking tool if you had something specific--or even something general--in mind. Like a forum, though, it can easily turn into a timesink, so be mindful of your usage.

I advise that you just explore it for a few hours and watch how other people use it for ideas, then perhaps leave it for a few days and reevaluate things from your new, more enlightened perspective. Eventually you'll settle on a usage that you feel comfortable with (which may be “no usage”, heh), although it might take some experimentation. Just be mindful of what you want to do with it, but again, when you're just beginning, be open to exploring what it has to offer without holding too rigid goals or expectations (you can hold those later once you actually have an idea of what's going on ).

This short video was helpful to me, too:
Video: Social Networking in Plain English | Common Craft - Explanations In Plain English

[Bruce Achterberg]

I'll go ahead and create an account and we can semi-explore the functionality together as fellow newbies.

Edit: Boy I'm having a hard time picking my primary area of expertise. "Personal development" and "effective living" aren't listed, heh.

[Doku]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Some invites were from people I don't know. Should I accept or decline those invites?

Is the idea to build the biggest network I can, or should I be more selective?

The idea behind Linked-in is that it is a web version of the "good old boys network." You should accept invites from only people that you know well. The reason is that you are pretty much vouching for that person, and their character when you add them to your network. Let me give an example. Let's say that I know you from high school, and you are good friends with... Guy Kawasaki, and I needed/wanted to meet him. When I searched for Guy Kawasaki on Linked-in, the search engine would show that we are both linked to you. So I would send you an e-mail, and ask you for an introduction to him instead of trying to make a cold-call. If you only casually knew him, how could you realistically make that introduction?

Think of it as the online embodiment of "Never Eat Alone."

--Doku

[Steve Pavlina]

So is there any advantage to adding people to your network when you don't even recognize their names?

[prasunsen]

I don't think there is big use of having huge network of people that you don't know. You'd probably accept invitations of people who you know or at least from once that are introduced by your already existing connections there.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

So is there any advantage to adding people to your network when you don't even recognize their names?

Would there be any advantage to having a random stranger from the street come to a Toastmasters meeting?

Maybe. It's hard to tell. A random stranger, probably not. Someone you just met that seems interesting, perhaps.

Look over their profile. If they look interesting or worth speaking to, add them. Think of it like inviting someone to come hang out with you and your friends. Would you want them there or not?

I felt comfortable with the digital social networking concept once I got how it relates to real life and real networking. It's kind of like the Second Life of retail stores—there are different rules to play by, and people relate differently to each of the different worlds and put different importances on them.

All this asking questions stuff puts me off, heh. Why don't you use the general "dive in and try it" approach, Steve? You'll have a much better understanding of what works for you. And that's what this is about--what works for you. Your question of whether or not you should add people seems to assume that there's some kind of objective ideal, and maybe there is a common practice most people go by (i.e. just like how millionaires tend to think similarly), but I don't think this is something you can model, unless you can find someone who shares your specific goals, interests, motivations, purposes, or all of the above.

Since I'm a newbie LinkedIn user (I've signed up, but not put in any info yet; going to bed soon), perhaps asking me questions, while helpful, isn't helpful. I can tell you stuff like what I just did, but I can't tell you what has effectively worked for me in terms of goals, and interests that are similar to you since I don't have that perspective.

Perhaps find someone who does?

(By the way, the LinkedIn user interface isn't very user-friendly. Ok, I'm not familiar with it, but it seems to want me to load up a whole new context instead of piggypacking on convention. Perhaps the extra functionality that no doubt arises because of that is worth it. Perhaps it's just needless complexity from people who don't know how to do user-friendly interface design, heh. Who knows.)

[Bruce Achterberg]

According to LinkedIn, "only invite people you know well and who know you [because]":

Invitations & Connecting

Connecting to someone on LinkedIn implies that you know them well:

* They’ll have access to people you know
* Others may ask you about them and vice versa
* You’ll get updates on their activity

LinkedIn lets you invite colleagues, classmates, friends and business partners without entering their email addresses.

However, recipients can indicate that they don’t know you. If they do, you’ll be asked to enter an email address with each future invitation.

[Doku]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

So is there any advantage to adding people to your network when you don't even recognize their names?

I would say no. Well, if you want to be an attention whore, but other than that, I see no reason. Facebook, Myspace, etc. are places for that kind of stuff... Linked-In is more of a good old boys network.

[Steve Pavlina]

OK, I think I'm getting the hang of this.

I'll probably have to decline invites from people I don't know. Otherwise my network could get pretty unwieldy. This could be a good networking resource down the road, so I don't want to overload it with people whose names I don't recognize.

I've found a lot of people I already know on there, including my sister, old classmates, and some business contacts. Pro speakers and fellow NSA members seem to have pretty good networks. Tony Alessandra just joined my network (he's a speaker/author and fellow NSA member), and I recognize many of the 300+ names in his network, so it's easy to find people to add that I already know.

I notice that my Linkedin page now appears in the top 20 results when I Google my name. That was fast -- I just signed up for it yesterday.

[rodrigo]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

OK, I think I'm getting the hang of this.

I'll probably have to decline invites from people I don't know. Otherwise my network could get pretty unwieldy. This could be a good networking resource down the road, so I don't want to overload it with people whose names I don't recognize.

That probably is the best approach. LinkedIn actually recommends you to use a good criteria on your contacts. From their page:

LinkedIn: Help & FAQ: Connecting

Whom should I invite to connect?
When you invite a friend or colleague to reconnect, be sure the person you’re choosing will be a good addition to your network. Only invite those you know and trust. You may be asked to tell one of your trusted friends more about the person you invite, and they may have to do the same for you. Or you may be forwarding a request (your own, or one from a friend) through them. Be sure you trust them to represent you and to treat a potentially serious request with appropriate care.

[jaydeschizo]

To answer your question directly, I would decline requests from people I have not met personally.

I like Keith Ferrazzi's approach on networking, it's the quality of your connections in your network, not the quantity, that counts.

[coulls]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

So is there any advantage to adding people to your network when you don't even recognize their names?

I only add people who I know and have dealt with, and even then I make sure these are normally senior people in a position that is likely to benefit me more than hinder me.

I can't remember who said it above, but it is like the "old boy's network" in a sense. If you have people recommending you, and vice-versa, you should treat it as the equivalent of an "approving nod" with your name guaranteeing the people you approve.

I find LinkedIn great for those moments when I have an idea and suddenly need to find someone senior somewhere, as I normally know someone that knows someone almost anywhere - and because of the above constraints, nobody ever hesitates to forward my details.

[simonsta]

LinkedIn is very useful for contacting folks you've met along the way. It's also good for making new contacts. I think though over time it maybe diluted as folks try to get as many contacts as possible, therefore distorting how connected you really are to people.

I hope it doesn't get abused!

[borntosucceed]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

I notice that my Linkedin page now appears in the top 20 results when I Google my name. That was fast -- I just signed up for it yesterday.

This prompted me to search for my name, I came up in pos 3. Clicked on it - big dissappointment as it was someone else having the same name (Thomas Born). I came up eventually on page 5 or so.

Anyone a shame I don't know you personally, who knows maybe we cross paths one day in the personal development workd and then we link in.