It’s not Facebook, it’s a professional network. At least that’s how I use it, in particular how I handle connections and connection requests. I only connect to people I know and trust. I thought that was worth clarifying.

There was a while when I received connection requests from colleagues and acquaintances where it turned out they hadn’t actually sent a connection request. Best guess, they allowed LinkedIn to scan their email accounts looking for potential connections automatically. I tend to ignore those requests; if someone can’t be bothered to contact me personally or at least personalise the connection request enough that I can tell it’s not a bot, then there’s not really enough interest there to have a worthwhile connection.

As a matter of course I do not accept connection requests from agents - I don’t know you, and I know you’re just link farming.

On the trust thing - I think this is probably the single most valuable feature of LinkedIn. It’s a shame it isn’t used by people more consistently. If I have contact with someone I don’t know personally, one of the first things I will do is check to see who I know that knows them (and potentially trusts them enough to link to them). A personal recommendation obtained that way counts for a lot. So when considering connection requests, I ask myself ‘do I trust this person enough (professionally) to put my reputation on the line for them?’. If not, I ignore the connection request.

So, if you do request a connection to me and I ignore it, it’s because I think it’s not a real connection request but just link farming, you’re someone I haven’t worked with enough to form an opinion about, or I just don’t either remember or rate you. Sounds harsh, but again, it’s not Facebook. If everyone did this, the connection network of LinkedIn would be a hell of a lot more professionally useful.

I don’t use social media in general - I have issues with feeding the marketing engines personal data. LinkedIn is the only semi-social network I use, and even then I restrict my use of it to my work life. No cats haz cheezeburgers here, and yes I do block feeds from connections that contain overly personal spam. I may expand onto Twitter eventually, but as yet I can’t see a viable use for it.

I’m still getting a handle on how to use LinkedIn posts and articles effectively. Yes, I’m marketing myself and my company here - it’s a necessary part of being a contractor. Additionally though, I’m attempting to give a true impression of what my priorities and viewpoints are in the workplace (and elsewhere). If folk think the views expressed in the posts work for them, then we’ll probably work well together. Saves time for everyone. Also, it’s interesting attempting to put my opinions down in some format - it didn’t come easily at first and it’s good writing practice.

Shared at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/using-linkedin-donal-stewart