LinkedIn is becoming more aggressive about pulling back features – unless users pay for an account.
Most are not so happy about the changes, and a quarter are pulling usage back.
Let’s have a look at January’s poll numbers.
Nobody happy about it
This isn’t a surprise, but I left the “we like it” option in there – somebody might think it’s a good thing.
But no, that’s not the case.
The best we get is the slim response that it doesn’t matter.
Dislike abounds
Yes, nearly ninety percent of the responses indicate a dislike for the changes at LinkedIn.
Hard to imagine a more nearly uniform response to a poll. (Unless you count the unfavorable opinion of a local politician that sued one of his constituents for medical damages after the politician trespassed in a construction zone and slipped and fell. The homeowner graciously did not press the trespass charges and the politician belongs to the party that wants to limit medical lawsuits – the irony is not lost on anyone…)
Charts and such
All right, all right, here’s the poll. Visitors were asked to respond to this question:
What do you think of new limitations on the LinkedIn site?
Results
It’s hard to knock results.
People use LinkedIn because it is free, safe, and effective.
Even if it’s a little bit less free today.
Next up – How big is your network?
Looking for a topic for this next poll, I realized that my network has passed a milestone. I just made my 400th connection.
And when you know and trust before connecting, that’s a reasonably difficult feat. As I mentioned in last week’s post about the visualization of my network – it covers nearly all of the professional, social and personal circles I maintain.
So – how many connections do you have? I’ll be interested to see the selection of readers (and responders) this site brings in.
Check it out – just over to the right and up.
To your continued success,
steve
—
Steven Tylock
http://www.linkedinpersonaltrainer.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevetylock
Steve –
It’s really too bad LinkedIn doesn’t recognize the value of being what Chris Brogan calls “A Trust Agent.” LI has a committed audience of users and, instead of pulling back on and charging for the services their clients have come to know and trust, they should develop new and valued services. They could then easily charge for the NEW services without breaking trust. THAT is how a strong brand maintains loyalty!
Carol,
I agree – and LinkedIn has been doing that in the past – which is why this new tactic is a bit distressing.
Thanks for commenting,
steve
I’ve had a basic (free) account for ages. They’ve just rendered themselves nearly useless with these changes, since I can’t see first level connections to see if someone is connected to someone I know. I’m not looking for work and I’m not currently hiring for the type of positions that LinkedIn would help with, so I won’t be using the site much going forward.
Kurt,
You’ve got to help me here.
“I can’t see first level connections”
Could mean that you can’t see your own first level connections – and I can, so you should too.
Could mean that you can’t see your connection’s connections. And this is up to each user to regulate. Most of my connections show their connections. (I’ve written about what sort of message this sends in other posts – but basically your connection doesn’t trust either you or some of his or her other connections enough to reveal them…)
And it could mean that you can’t see other user’s first level connections – and you never could. (That would be a total breach of privacy)
I wrote this article more than a year ago – so I can’t tell if it is these changes, or others that you’re unhappy with.
So if you could, please tell us more.
Thanks,
steve
Thanks – I haven’t really dug in on this but things definitely changed a few weeks back. Perhaps people are restricting views of their profiles, but I don’t seem to get the kind of detail I used to see.
I’ve also noticed a huge increase in unsolicited invitations from people I don’t have a clue about and whose profiles are nearly empty. I’m guessing they’re just trying to game the system, but the annoyance factor is definitely increasing.
Ahh yes – that I know of.
Try this article I wrote over on Linked Intelligence:
http://linkedintelligence.com/the-changing-nature-of-inclusion-on-linkedin/
Being “in” doesn’t seem to be as useful as it once was;-)
steve
Thanks – the article was very helpful, and the “condensed view” seems to be the root of the issue. I also only accept invitations from people I know and trust, so when I get an invitation from someone I don’t immediately recognize the first thing I do is go look at their profile. If I can’t actually see anything meaningful in their profile, it’s time for the ‘ignore’ button. Sad.
Glad to help.
And yes, it seems that trolling for connections is a growing unpleasantness on the now-popular system.
steve