I started using Linkedin when I was in college, for connecting with like-minded people around the globe and it helped me a great deal in landing my first software job. It helped me further, when I started my first business venture www.confianzit.com in 2008. Linkedin has been useful to me in hiring talented resources in multiple geographical regions, networking with fellow entrepreneurs and most importantly, getting some good business connections.

Yet, for the past 2 years, things have gone haywire with Linkedin. People tend to use Linkedin for the same reason as Facebook, as they do not understand that these serve two different purposes. It has started getting less professional and I for one, am been getting more and more frustrated to the extent that I stopped my regular use of the portal.

Here are the some things that Linkedin users need to stop doing:

• Sending messages/inmails which is basically just Spam. From lottery wins to bogus requests on someone who expired in Nigeria wanting to move his assets and money to me, I get a number of such inmails! Some of the messages are just hate speech and/or vulgarity.
• People have to stop creating polls on Linkedin to vote for “Which actor is hot” or “Find the first word you will find on the picture which will be reflecting your character”.
• We do not need game requests on Linkedin, nor any sex tips!!!
• Please keep your political views outside Linkedin. Nobody wants to know whether you are supporting Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump on Linkedin.
• Please cut down on the swearing.
• Oh yes, I know my Zodiac sign. If I want to read about my lucky horoscope or love horoscope, there are many places to read about those, please keep them away on Linkedin.
• Torturing jobseekers asking them to like or comment on a post “I am looking for 100Engineers in Dubai” has to stop. To be honest, it is a sadist attitude to take advantage of people who are eagerly looking for jobs. If you have any opening in your organization, why not be decent enough and post it with clear details, directing them to a career page of the company website?
• Salesmen have got to stop pushing too hard. It seems that there are more lead generation companies in the world than actual leads themselves! We know the ‘job perils’ of salesmen and one follow-up is understood. But spamming on people just because he/she accepted your connection request is but simply rude.
• Unless there are some compelling reasons, please post about your gaming achievements on Xbox or Playstation, outside Linkedin. This is a professional network, not a fancy bragging site. Unless you are a Test Engineer at these companies, it doesn’t make any sense for these to be posted on Linkedin.
• If you want more clicks to the website, try better platforms like Google Adwords or Facebook ads or Linkedin Ads. Please do not post a picture that has nothing to do with the actual content of the url you are sharing and mislead people.
• It’s fine to inmail for getting introduced, or for sales talk. But starting conversations by pitching in a blatant lie, is not. I received three inmails in a span of 2 weeks, from people who claimed to have helped my business to make millions of sales in dollars. If you have at least checked my Linkedin profile, you would have known that I am the principal behind the business you referred in the inmail and I’m not sure whom you’re trying to fool.
• If I really want to know which country is the coolest or best in hourly payment, I would rather use a smart tool at disposal called “Google”. Try it, always works for me.

• I am not against business or job related jokes, keep a limit per day perhaps. Too many posts like these are annoying.

 

All the above is my personal opinion, I do not mean to personally offend or attack anyone. I have the option to disconnect with such people on Linkedin. But such people are in fact degrading an otherwise unique and professional platform, by using it for useless gimmicks and spam.

Hope someday, Linkedin will start considering this seriously and at least have a reporting feature for people to bring such things to their immediate notice.