By now, you’ve probably seen the latest addition
to LinkedIn. The company calls it “Endorsements.”
According to LinkedIn, “As of September
30, 2012, LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the
Internet with more than 187 million members in over 200 countries and
territories.” We can all agree about LinkedIn’s purpose: users provide an
overview of their professional background including education and work
experience. Users can look for jobs, join groups, ask and answer questions, and
above all, network. LinkedIn owns a niche market in the social media space, and
it’s the leader in its space.
Previously, users aspired to add
recommendations to their profiles. Recommendations could be created by
co-workers, supervisors, vendors, etc. Typically, people would spend quality
time to refresh themselves on an individual’s quality of work, teamwork, and
successes – before writing recommendations. This was what made recommendations
a valuable element of a LinkedIn profile. Whether a person was looking for a
new job or building a personal brand, recommendations were important.
Fast forward to endorsements. First,
users need to define their specialty areas or skills. That’s not a problem, and
these strengths should be part of a person’s profile anyway. But, the problem
arises when someone visits a profile – a box pops up and asks for endorsements.
People can make a decision in a fleeting
second if they wish to provide an endorsement. In the same amount of time that it
takes to sneeze, you can click and provide several endorsements. As a result,
endorsements seem more like a popularity contest similar to a “thumbs up” or “like”
from Facebook.
Was LinkedIn trying
to become more like Facebook and less like a professional networking site? If
so, it is interfering with its brand, and in the process, affecting the quality
of its differentiation in the social media landscape.
So, are you using LinkedIn’s endorsements
instead of recommendations?
A recommendation is a real comment- endorsements are pop up nonsense IMHO
ReplyDeleteI'm with Allan. I think recommendations are much more credible. But in our ADD society maybe people need the quick endorsements. But personally, I find recommendations more credible. Oh! And here's another point. I received endorsements from people I've never done business with. So just how credible are those? Just sayin!
ReplyDelete