LinkedIn has long been (and still is) one of my favorite marketing platforms. As THE leading professional social network, LinkedIn is one of the most important networks for business professionals, sales reps, entrepreneurs and executives.
Over the past 12 years LinkedIn has added tremendous value to my business. I can directly trace top clients, speaking engagements, business opportunities and job offers directly to LinkedIn.
It is still a tremendously valuable network.
BUT.
LinkedIn has a huge SPAM problem. This is a message I got from LinkedIn. For real. And it is one of many.
First, seriously guys. This is EXTREMELY inappropriate. No woman wants to be harassed on LinkedIn. It is way inappropriate. Just don’t. Ever.
From the dating requests, to the spammy groups to the crappy sales pitches… LinkedIn is more and more becoming a cesspool of cheap tactics and less about connecting business professionals in a meaningful way. In my in-box 95% of the messages I get are spam or ads or worse… very few actually valuable messages written by an actual human intended for me specifically.
I still believe in LinkedIn, but the value is being eroded by all of the noise.
How can we Fix LinkedIn?
- Don’t be a part of the problem. Don’t spam people or use cheap tactics to annoy people on LinkedIn.
- Report, Report, Report. When you see something, say something. Report spam and obnoxious behavior and *hopefully* LinkedIn will take action.
- Manage Your Connections. A lot of the worst spam comes when you connect with people you don’t know (and by the way, they get access to your email). Avoid connections with people who may spam you.
What made LinkedIn so powerful back in the beginning was that they really took a strong stance towards spam. If you were reported as not known by as little as 5 connection requests you could have your account blocked.
Here are 3 recent messages on LinkedIn. COME ON PEOPLE! WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS!
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