Today I Deleted My LinkedIn Account; You Probably Should Too(moshebildner.wordpress.com)
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Today I Deleted My LinkedIn Account; You Probably Should Too
http://moshebildner.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/today-i-delete-my-linkedin-account-you-probably-should-too/
49 comments
Yeah, I have a love/hate relationship with LinkedIn.
I don't like the site, and I don't like the company. That said, I've had on-site interviews at Google, Facebook, and the like not via my StackOverflow profile (which is pretty good, 20k+), or my blog, but directly through being hit up on LinkedIn.
I'm about to start a dream job next week, again after being contacted first on LinkedIn by my new employer.
Perhaps it's alright if you can post online about all the great work you do, or you have a name for yourself in the industry, or you make lots of OSS contributions on GitHub. Unfortunately I don't have any of those (yet!). But I do have a LinkedIn profile, and that's what got me on the one-way flight from London to SF next week.
I'm not defending LinkedIn as a company: I think they're pretty scummy. But if I didn't have my account, maybe I wouldn't have got this job.
I don't like the site, and I don't like the company. That said, I've had on-site interviews at Google, Facebook, and the like not via my StackOverflow profile (which is pretty good, 20k+), or my blog, but directly through being hit up on LinkedIn.
I'm about to start a dream job next week, again after being contacted first on LinkedIn by my new employer.
Perhaps it's alright if you can post online about all the great work you do, or you have a name for yourself in the industry, or you make lots of OSS contributions on GitHub. Unfortunately I don't have any of those (yet!). But I do have a LinkedIn profile, and that's what got me on the one-way flight from London to SF next week.
I'm not defending LinkedIn as a company: I think they're pretty scummy. But if I didn't have my account, maybe I wouldn't have got this job.
At this point, it's as if a lot of company have stopped accepting applicants except via LinkedIn. They find you, instead of you find them.
Recruiter here. Would you rather have an inbox with 2000 unqualified resumes or just go find qualified people yourself?
It would be interesting to hear first hand what your process looks like, and why you might find Linkedin to be a better fit as opposed to something like SO (which obviously I'm not sure you do).
The parent wasn't apologizing for LinkedIn so much as advocating for an active recruiting strategy rather than a passive one. If I were a recruiter mercenary, I'd look use both.
Recruiters might use LinkedIn because there are lots of good programmers whose community participation does not occur on Stack Overflow, but still have LinkedIn profiles.
Sorry if I was unclear. I was responding specifically to "They find you, instead of you find them." I use SO and Github quite a bit, but my point was simply that I'd MUCH rather find someone myself than just wait for resumes to come in, as the resumes that come in are often not very good.
There is a very high chance that a professional will end up finding a job through linkedin since employers, specifically recruiters find it helpful to filter prospective employees... but keeping in context an older post [1], is linkedin really worth the solution to find the right person for the job? Had it not existed, would we end up hiring the wrong people? I guess not. It is just an added layer of `sophistication` to the hiring process.
Its features don't really acknowledge an individual’s skill set, and are flawed. For example the `endorsing feature` of linkedin allows people who haven't even worked with technology X, to endorse people for the same technology.
In short, I don't see linkedin adds any value, but at the same time since recruiters are on it and we are forced to accept it.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6212961
Its features don't really acknowledge an individual’s skill set, and are flawed. For example the `endorsing feature` of linkedin allows people who haven't even worked with technology X, to endorse people for the same technology.
In short, I don't see linkedin adds any value, but at the same time since recruiters are on it and we are forced to accept it.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6212961
You're talking about the "skills" section. I don't need to work with jQuery directly to know John Smith wrote my company's jQuery code and he has that skill. If you want to write an in-depth review of John Smith's code from a technical standpoint, you can do that on LinkedIn, too. Most often, LinkedIn asks me if they know XYZ and either I know that they know it or I don't know--the value I get from that, it helps me to see where my connections are going with their careers. That's helpful to know for a variety of reasons, use your imagination. Sometimes they go into "skill" areas I never would have expected. Likewise, if someone hates Java (even if they know it well) they're not going to list it as a skill. Also, you can turn off any profile section you find annoying, it's in the options/settings. For example, I have the "people who viewed PJ also viewed these profiles" turned off.
LinkedIn is the only "social network" I have anything to do with and it isn't so much on a regular engaged basis as a "well, someday it might be handy" sort of way.
It has never really benefitted me in any way (I haven't been actively job-hunting this century), but since I don't care for social networks and if I did, I wouldn't want professional contacts in the same circle as my friends and family and barely-acquaintances, it is a fantastic way to keep in contact with colleagues throughout my career, on my own terms and segregated from the rest of my life.
Unfortunately, it has become more of a nuisance in the last year. News feeds, streams full of discussions, streams full of people posting links, advertisements. That doesn't even take into account the constant spam email from LinkedIn. I'm an engineer. I know how to make sure I hit the right buttons --- and yet just when I think I have unsubscribed from nearly everything I want to be unsubscribed from, I get more spam. So and so has joined! You should join these groups! These groups might interest you! Here's what went on today! Here's what went on this week! Here's some articles from people in the industry! You should add your email accounts so we can reach out to your contacts! So and so has a new job!
It's really the only service of its kind with this sort of reach, but I'm concerned that they're going to slit the throat of their golden goose by engaging in the sort of behavior you'd expect from traditional social networks (or worse).
It has never really benefitted me in any way (I haven't been actively job-hunting this century), but since I don't care for social networks and if I did, I wouldn't want professional contacts in the same circle as my friends and family and barely-acquaintances, it is a fantastic way to keep in contact with colleagues throughout my career, on my own terms and segregated from the rest of my life.
Unfortunately, it has become more of a nuisance in the last year. News feeds, streams full of discussions, streams full of people posting links, advertisements. That doesn't even take into account the constant spam email from LinkedIn. I'm an engineer. I know how to make sure I hit the right buttons --- and yet just when I think I have unsubscribed from nearly everything I want to be unsubscribed from, I get more spam. So and so has joined! You should join these groups! These groups might interest you! Here's what went on today! Here's what went on this week! Here's some articles from people in the industry! You should add your email accounts so we can reach out to your contacts! So and so has a new job!
It's really the only service of its kind with this sort of reach, but I'm concerned that they're going to slit the throat of their golden goose by engaging in the sort of behavior you'd expect from traditional social networks (or worse).
As an engineer at LinkedIn, this makes me very happy to hear. We work really hard on the product and try to improve the experience wherever we can, and it's nice to know people find some utility in the work we do.
The first thing I hear when I tell someone I work at LinkedIn is: "You guys spam too much." I can't blame them because even I get frustrated with the volume of email I get from LinkedIn each day. For the most part, each product team is responsible for the frequency of their emails. Our team tries to cut down on spam wherever possible. Unfortunately, there are differing philosophies within the company (and within the industry) regarding what constitutes spam.
The first thing I hear when I tell someone I work at LinkedIn is: "You guys spam too much." I can't blame them because even I get frustrated with the volume of email I get from LinkedIn each day. For the most part, each product team is responsible for the frequency of their emails. Our team tries to cut down on spam wherever possible. Unfortunately, there are differing philosophies within the company (and within the industry) regarding what constitutes spam.
As a user I don't mind the emails too much and I have successfully been recruited via LinkedIn so it does add value for me.
My big gripe is that clicking through emails on mobile is usually a bad experience. Mostly it either wants me to log in for something I normally would not have to on a normal desktop and it always, always nags me about opening in the app first which is annoying after the 50th time.
I also think the updated recommendations feature is not useful since 1) the UI can take away from the rest of your profile by taking up too much room and 2) people not qualified to give a recommendation for a given skill do so. Your Uncle bob may be qualified to say you are an awesome programmer but mine is sure not.
My big gripe is that clicking through emails on mobile is usually a bad experience. Mostly it either wants me to log in for something I normally would not have to on a normal desktop and it always, always nags me about opening in the app first which is annoying after the 50th time.
I also think the updated recommendations feature is not useful since 1) the UI can take away from the rest of your profile by taking up too much room and 2) people not qualified to give a recommendation for a given skill do so. Your Uncle bob may be qualified to say you are an awesome programmer but mine is sure not.
Oh, my god yes. Stop sending me email that just doesn't work on mobile. I process a lot of mail on my iPhone, I just delete the linkedin email now because it's useless to try to interact with it.
Your export to PDF feature needs to include the screenshot section you recently added!
Now get to work adding that feature!
Now get to work adding that feature!
I just turn all notifications off (as I do with all of my social networks) and use it to connect with past and present coworkers that are either uncomfortable or unwilling to connect on facebook.
Fair enough :) like I said I really am open to the notion that it's a useful site for some people. But I have never met anyone who gets value out of it and I know plenty of people who feel like it spams them.
I don't think the op knew you can turn off the LinkedIn emails.
Pretty much. Linked In is a convenient way of maintaining a formatted CV and a Rolodex for me. It does a very good job of those things.
> A quick scan of my Google account reveals that I have granted access to 49 different websites. AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT MOST OF THEM ARE, OR WHAT PERMISSIONS I GAVE THEM.
Okay, at the risk of sounding arrogant, you have no rights to complain if you give out permission to 50 different websites without knowing what they do. You cannot complain that you are being exploited, when you allow yourself to be exploited. My google account is linked to fifteen different sites which I know what they are all for.
> go check your inbox for an “Invitation to connect on LinkedIn”. They don’t come from @linkedin.com, which THEY ABSOLUTELY SHOULD
Again, you gave them the permission to do so. And to play the devil's advocate, would you be less* likely to accept an invitation from your friend if he sent you an e-mail from some foreign account, or his account of which you are familiar? Again, you gave them the permission. If you don't like it, just make a linkedIn account without a connection to Google account. You've not done so because connecting to Google is convenient. You are paying a fair price.
I get minimal number of e-mails from linkedIn because I didn't give them permission to send me every gritty details of other people. It does exactly what I told it to. Maybe you should as well.
Okay, at the risk of sounding arrogant, you have no rights to complain if you give out permission to 50 different websites without knowing what they do. You cannot complain that you are being exploited, when you allow yourself to be exploited. My google account is linked to fifteen different sites which I know what they are all for.
> go check your inbox for an “Invitation to connect on LinkedIn”. They don’t come from @linkedin.com, which THEY ABSOLUTELY SHOULD
Again, you gave them the permission to do so. And to play the devil's advocate, would you be less* likely to accept an invitation from your friend if he sent you an e-mail from some foreign account, or his account of which you are familiar? Again, you gave them the permission. If you don't like it, just make a linkedIn account without a connection to Google account. You've not done so because connecting to Google is convenient. You are paying a fair price.
I get minimal number of e-mails from linkedIn because I didn't give them permission to send me every gritty details of other people. It does exactly what I told it to. Maybe you should as well.
Agreed. This is promiscuous behavior. One should occasionally check out their Google dashboard and see what's going on. A few times a year, I check out what has permission via my Google account and deactivate anything that I haven't used in awhile or no longer care about.
wrt your first point you are absolutely 100% right, and I said so in the article. I agree that failing to manage my login permissions exposes me to problems. But a system that makes it this easy for people to get screwed is a bad system. In my case the only downside is that I get annoying emails - but giving inbox permissions on fb or email exposes you to huuuuuge problems. People keep all kind of things there that they shouldn't - passwords, I'll bet you have ten friends with their social security or all kinds of PHI in their gmail. In my case I take responsibility for the silly emails I get because of it. I also go through fb and google permissions and cull them, but that is not always enough, especially if you're facing a malicious site. But my problem isn't how this affects me, it's how it affects users who don't understand the danger here - which is most people. Some people think the answer is either "everyone learns to code or everyone loses control/rights", but I think that doesn't make sense. You don't expect everyone who drives to fix their cars themselves, and when one breaks and hurts them you don't mock them for their carelessness in getting such a complicated piece of equipment (I hope). We always abstract complexity away from new technology so that it can be used conveniently and safely, which is great. In the same way I think people building complicated web tools should do so responsibly, so that their users don't expose themselves to problems by using them. You don't have to abuse access permissions to make a great tool, and I'm willing to bet that these controls will get more and more tightly controlled to keep things like this from happening. That's exactly what happened to Facebook's messaging api, which no longer permits developers to problematically send messages, to prevent spam.
Nope! It's easier to complain about it online! #angry #omg #whyisthishappeningtome?!?!
I love the internets, technology and how we've progressed at an amazing rate. I also like how everyone has a voice, but at the same time...that part isn't always as shiny. I agree with your post 100%!
I love the internets, technology and how we've progressed at an amazing rate. I also like how everyone has a voice, but at the same time...that part isn't always as shiny. I agree with your post 100%!
"Seriously, go check your inbox for an “Invitation to connect on LinkedIn”. They don’t come from *@linkedin.com, which THEY ABSOLUTELY SHOULD."
Not true. I just checked the headers on a recent email and LinkedIn is definitely setting the From correctly:
From: [redacted] via LinkedIn <[email protected]>
The Reply-To is the one of the user however.
Not true. I just checked the headers on a recent email and LinkedIn is definitely setting the From correctly:
From: [redacted] via LinkedIn <[email protected]>
The Reply-To is the one of the user however.
Yup, so not only is this article preachy and boring (seriously, how many "I'm quitting $socialnetwork and you should too" posts do we need?), but it's also factually wrong.
Even if the from address was that of the user who sent the message, it's kind of hard to ignore the huge LinkedIn branding the message resides in. You'd have to be a fool to miss it, because I'm pretty sure even a blind person's screen reader would pick up on this.
Even if the from address was that of the user who sent the message, it's kind of hard to ignore the huge LinkedIn branding the message resides in. You'd have to be a fool to miss it, because I'm pretty sure even a blind person's screen reader would pick up on this.
It's not about fooling the human, it's about giving the spam filter a hard time.
LinkedIn emails get through spam filters because they have properly configured email auth like SPF and DKIM, LinkedIn accounts are double-opt-in, and because LinkedIn works closely with major email providers like Google and Microsoft.
I feel like there should be a button for people who don't have accounts to say, "I don't want to make an account and I don't want any more email from LinkedIn."
Would be nice if Gmail's "Spam" button actually blocked future emails from that same person indefinitely!
Sometimes they get around filters by sending from different emails, that's really annoying. I should probably quit Gmail and go back to Cerberus which has awesome filtering!
Sometimes they get around filters by sending from different emails, that's really annoying. I should probably quit Gmail and go back to Cerberus which has awesome filtering!
I too was looking for that button, and the best that I could find was drumroll to create a LinkedIn account and change my preferences. :/
For the end user that isn't a member, they seem to not want to let you opt out of their emails.
For the end user that isn't a member, they seem to not want to let you opt out of their emails.
That wouldn't prevent them to build a social network around you, just like Facebook does ("ghost profiles" or whatever they are called these days). Those emails are just spam.
Agreed. What linked-in does is absolutely the correct behavior. When someone uses linked-in to send me an email, my response should go directly to the user. This takes Linked-in out of the loop of the conversation, which is perfect.
Other networks (I'm looking at you, Facebook), instead trap you in using their interfaces to communicate with someone.
I think Linked-in is actually really protecting privacy in this respect.
Also, if the user grants you permission, you can see their email address within linked-in and avoid sending any communication through linked-in itself.
Other networks (I'm looking at you, Facebook), instead trap you in using their interfaces to communicate with someone.
I think Linked-in is actually really protecting privacy in this respect.
Also, if the user grants you permission, you can see their email address within linked-in and avoid sending any communication through linked-in itself.
The reply-to being from the user is super useful. It means I can talk to someone who wants to connect without having to go back to LinkedIn. It's good UX design.
Yep. I just checked my mail and saw the same thing. Though my oldest invitations seem to be from the user themselves. Seems they changed it in 2010 to @linkedin.com.
Thank you for pointing this out, I checked, and I've gotten emails routed through user emails as recently as 2012, but it does look like they're generally moving away from that. I made a longer comment to that effect below.
http://imgur.com/gallery/fapPDhZ/new
http://imgur.com/gallery/fapPDhZ/new
Wait, why should I delete mine too? Because their business model is, in the author's opinion, unsustainable? Because of the fact that the author gets spam from them (I have gmail filters set up such that I am not aware of any mail LinkedIn sends me)?
This smells like just another hipster anti-culture movement. "LinkedIn is popular, down with LinkedIn!"
This smells like just another hipster anti-culture movement. "LinkedIn is popular, down with LinkedIn!"
I could not agree more. I'm getting real tired of seeing sensationalist platitudes on HN. Next up: 'Why I stopped going to the bathroom'. It's fine to buck the trends, it's a bit awkward to try and make other people taste your sour grapes.
I get basically no LinkedIn mail and haven't for about a year. The settings are pretty easy to change [1][2][3] (though there are a lot of them) and they don't seem to roll out new settings and default them to on like Facebook used to.
Occasionally I log in and check my messages and update my profile, especially when I need to look someone up or figure out how to get an introduction to someone, but generally I find LinkedIn to be pretty unobtrusive. I'm not sure lack of using it constantly is really a good rationale for closing an account though. Seems a bit short-sighted based on the value of having your second degree network so easily identifiable.
[1] https://www.linkedin.com/settings/email-frequency?goback=.na...
[2] https://www.linkedin.com/settings/partner-inmail?goback=%2En...
[3] https://www.linkedin.com/settings/research-invitations?gobac...
Occasionally I log in and check my messages and update my profile, especially when I need to look someone up or figure out how to get an introduction to someone, but generally I find LinkedIn to be pretty unobtrusive. I'm not sure lack of using it constantly is really a good rationale for closing an account though. Seems a bit short-sighted based on the value of having your second degree network so easily identifiable.
[1] https://www.linkedin.com/settings/email-frequency?goback=.na...
[2] https://www.linkedin.com/settings/partner-inmail?goback=%2En...
[3] https://www.linkedin.com/settings/research-invitations?gobac...
They have defaulted new emails to on in the past.
Well, to each their own. LinkedIn has added great value to me. My current job was because a recruiter found me on it. After researching the company, I knew I'd love it there.
But, I babysit my LinkedIn account like other people tend to their Facebook. I comment on articles, posts updates, keep my profile up-to-date, share random things I find interesting. I do this daily, which is what I see people around me doing with Facebook.
Same here but I find few people comment on the articles or get involved in the comments. Seems that's one area where Google Plus is winning.
Don't see much here. For many people LinkedIn is a good way to connect with other professionals, and you can always change your email settings. I'll need a better reason to delete it. This article just seems like someone who never saw the value in something deciding to get rid of it.
I don't use LinkedIn like I use facebook. With facebook I'm checking in on friends. With LinkedIn I occasionally add professional contacts, and just maintain an update profile so that recruiters can search for me.
The cracking-open-your-email that LinkedIn does, however, is really aggravating. I've never let linkedin access my email account to search for contacts.
The cracking-open-your-email that LinkedIn does, however, is really aggravating. I've never let linkedin access my email account to search for contacts.
Although I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with LinkedIn, I think this article is a little off; as many point out, it's fairly easy to set email preferences on LinkedIn.
This article was useful, however, as it reminded me that I've been meaning to delete my Path account. That I did delete today.
This article was useful, however, as it reminded me that I've been meaning to delete my Path account. That I did delete today.
I deleted mine a few weeks back. I was getting negative value of it in the form of spam and random connections I didn't actually know in person.
In the developer world, LinkedIn is seen as marginal at best, and uncool at worst. Other industries? I don't know. I had someone tell me they get a lot of B2B value out of it in the bio med space.
At any rate, I don't miss it for a second. I had to create a quick test account for a portal I was using and the signup process was just awfully deceptive. I deleted that one as well.
In the developer world, LinkedIn is seen as marginal at best, and uncool at worst. Other industries? I don't know. I had someone tell me they get a lot of B2B value out of it in the bio med space.
At any rate, I don't miss it for a second. I had to create a quick test account for a portal I was using and the signup process was just awfully deceptive. I deleted that one as well.
[deleted]
LinkedIn also sets some very annoying traps for its users.
A few days ago, I received an email from LinkedIn displaying an old friend who wanted to connect. I was excited to see an old familiar face, so I logged in and eventually found a way to connect with him. Today, I received an email again for the same person, saying my invitation to connect was still standing. I clicked through the links in the email this time, and was walked through a multi-step tutorial, that tricked me into sending 16 invites to random people I have never met before. They had a list of potential connections, only one of which I wanted to make, so I took the time to uncheck all the other boxes beside strangers. When I hit their continue button, it told me I had sent 16 invitations ... apparently the list I had just seen was actually scrollable, but by design, it was very difficult to tell that there were 16 hidden users I had to scroll down to see. Very frustrating.
A few days ago, I received an email from LinkedIn displaying an old friend who wanted to connect. I was excited to see an old familiar face, so I logged in and eventually found a way to connect with him. Today, I received an email again for the same person, saying my invitation to connect was still standing. I clicked through the links in the email this time, and was walked through a multi-step tutorial, that tricked me into sending 16 invites to random people I have never met before. They had a list of potential connections, only one of which I wanted to make, so I took the time to uncheck all the other boxes beside strangers. When I hit their continue button, it told me I had sent 16 invitations ... apparently the list I had just seen was actually scrollable, but by design, it was very difficult to tell that there were 16 hidden users I had to scroll down to see. Very frustrating.
OK, great, you don't find LinkedIn useful. I respect that, but I do not at all understand it. LinkedIn is about 100x more useful than Facebook in my life, even if I spend more raw time on Facebook (and I'm not 100% sure that's true, actually).
I guess it depends on how you use LinkedIn, but for me, it's a marketing & promotion channel (via LI groups mainly), a constantly updated Rolodex, an expertise locator, and a source of information for market research, competitive intelligence and general industry awareness.
Now, to be fair, I am a startup founder, where said startup is in the B2B space. Maybe that makes LinkedIn uniquely useful for me, compared to other folks who aren't in this position. I don't know, I just know that LinkedIn is wildly useful for me. shrug
I guess it depends on how you use LinkedIn, but for me, it's a marketing & promotion channel (via LI groups mainly), a constantly updated Rolodex, an expertise locator, and a source of information for market research, competitive intelligence and general industry awareness.
Now, to be fair, I am a startup founder, where said startup is in the B2B space. Maybe that makes LinkedIn uniquely useful for me, compared to other folks who aren't in this position. I don't know, I just know that LinkedIn is wildly useful for me. shrug
I did, a while ago. Nothing useful came out of Linkedin for me, but tons and tons of spam. It took me months to get unsubscribed from all the spam.
So glad that I've _never_ had one. They sketched me out right from the beginning.
Build a webapp for users to generate nice-looking, highly usable resumes. Host their resumes on public profile pages, maintaining complete openness (with an optional permissions model, of course). Offer a "Download Resume as PDF" option, so users can download their resume for emailing as an attachment. Let them own their data.
Create such an awesome experience, that everyone is compelled to use it. Absolutely no paywalls for individual users.
Design an awesome interface for companies to search through resumes. Implement algorithms for automated job-matching. Monetize on subscriptions to this, and on job postings, a la StackOverflow Careers.
Watch LinkedIn crumble.
Create such an awesome experience, that everyone is compelled to use it. Absolutely no paywalls for individual users.
Design an awesome interface for companies to search through resumes. Implement algorithms for automated job-matching. Monetize on subscriptions to this, and on job postings, a la StackOverflow Careers.
Watch LinkedIn crumble.
I'll delete my LinkedIn profile after I'm sure that I'll never want employment anywhere. This is essentially professional reputation/resume service, which eliminated my use of a half dozen job websites.
According to http://justdelete.me/ LinkedIn has been reported to send you emails even after you delete your account. I know one woman who kept getting invitation emails from another guy, even though he wasn't active on the site at all. She was so annoyed that (with her permission) I added her email address to my account so it would stop bugging her.
I deleted my account a couple years ago. I used to always get emails from people who were inviting me to join. The emails were from [email protected] but contained the name of the person in the subject. The message also contained text that looked like it was from the person:
On March 14, Person X wrote:
> To: bhelx [[email protected]] > From: Person X [[email protected]] > Subject: Invitation to connect on LinkedIn
> bhelx, > > I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. > > - PersonX
The worst thing is I would get follow up emails "Reminder about your invitation from Person X" pretty regularly. I would unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of the email but I found that it was only unsubscribing me from receiving the follow up "reminder" emails from each person I unsubscribed from. It was really frustrating. I assume Linked In was explicitly requesting permission to do this.
On March 14, Person X wrote:
> To: bhelx [[email protected]] > From: Person X [[email protected]] > Subject: Invitation to connect on LinkedIn
> bhelx, > > I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. > > - PersonX
The worst thing is I would get follow up emails "Reminder about your invitation from Person X" pretty regularly. I would unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of the email but I found that it was only unsubscribing me from receiving the follow up "reminder" emails from each person I unsubscribed from. It was really frustrating. I assume Linked In was explicitly requesting permission to do this.
Wouldn't that run afoul of the CAN-SPAM act?
Since the emails were supposedly sent at the behest of a user, I don't think it counts as unsolicited email.
CAN-SPAM requires an option to unsubscribe, though.
It's not like Gmail adds a link to unsubscribe from all Gmail users' emails. If a user sends a message, LinkedIn can deliver it without falling afoul of CAN-SPAM.
LinkedIn is sending the emails. Even if someone intentionally put my email address in a box on LinkedIn and said "I'd like to connect with this person", if I've explicitly said I'm not interested in creating a LinkedIn account and not interested in receiving invites, then it is LinkedIn's responsibility to not send that email.
LinkedIn is not an email provider, they have no obligation to that user to send me a message.
LinkedIn is not an email provider, they have no obligation to that user to send me a message.
That sounds broken. If I want to spam someone, I just need to set up a website that allows you to message users and then register for it myself and keep requesting to send messages. That sounds like the sort of obvious loophole you catch early on.
You would have to go after the user for spamming you, not the email service that delivers the message.
I've had this happen with Spotify. I connected my Facebook account and after a while I unconnected it, yet it still tells me to add people that I'm friends with on Facebook.
I'm currently working at a job, where a recruiter reached out to me via LinkedIn.
I'm glad I'm still a loyal LinkedIn user.
Regardless, I wish you best of luck.
I'm glad I'm still a loyal LinkedIn user.
Regardless, I wish you best of luck.
I actually find Linkedin useful. I like being part of a social network whose focus is professionals. If only they weren't so smarmy. I used to be able to link my Behance.net portfolio and github there but I can't even see those apps anymore. It's sad, but I still go in and check my groups every day.
I'll definitely sign up with whoever can do it better.
I'll definitely sign up with whoever can do it better.
The ability to shut off emails has been pretty easy, in my experience. Other than that, I find quite a bit of value from linkedin.
If you are in a service industry (consulting, law, etc.), sales, or other business role, LinkedIn is absolutely critical for qualifying leads, being qualified, and networking. If you are a line-engineer, sure, you probably can delete it.
LinkedIn is essential for everyone, it's how you get the great jobs, versus say any job.
Yep, I was thinking exactly the same thing a couple of weeks ago. What annoys me more is the constant money grabbing - things like asking me to pay to view some people's profiles, asking me to pay to see who viewed my profile, etc. linkedin has provided me with zero value over the years.
Anyway, I'm so pissed off at linkedin that I've spent the last couple of weeks developing my own lightweight, less evil alternative. Once it's complete I'm just going to update my linked profile to say something like 'see my full profile on ...'. If other people find it useful then they can use it too.
Anyway, I'm so pissed off at linkedin that I've spent the last couple of weeks developing my own lightweight, less evil alternative. Once it's complete I'm just going to update my linked profile to say something like 'see my full profile on ...'. If other people find it useful then they can use it too.
> Google is the holder of your information and manager of your identity
I don't agree with this. Google may be the locker in which you put your information, but you hold the key to it. If you decide to give the key to 3rd parties that's your responsibility.
People need to educate themselves about how their information can be used and abused. Perhaps someone needs to drive this education and perhaps Google can/should be a part of that, but they are in no way implicitly obliged.
If you write your password down on a post-it and stick it to your computer screen, is that Google's responsibility?
I don't agree with this. Google may be the locker in which you put your information, but you hold the key to it. If you decide to give the key to 3rd parties that's your responsibility.
People need to educate themselves about how their information can be used and abused. Perhaps someone needs to drive this education and perhaps Google can/should be a part of that, but they are in no way implicitly obliged.
If you write your password down on a post-it and stick it to your computer screen, is that Google's responsibility?
LinkedIn would be three times as useful if it changed a single line of code.
Instead of giving users the default "I'd like to add you to my professional network" placeholder text, LinkedIn should require users to explain how and why they want to connect with other professionals.
Would this make it a bit harder to grow your network? Yes, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It would put quality over quantity, making your connections more meaningful and requiring users to stop and think before sending someone a connect request (therefore cutting down on email spam).
Instead of giving users the default "I'd like to add you to my professional network" placeholder text, LinkedIn should require users to explain how and why they want to connect with other professionals.
Would this make it a bit harder to grow your network? Yes, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It would put quality over quantity, making your connections more meaningful and requiring users to stop and think before sending someone a connect request (therefore cutting down on email spam).
Sending emails "from" your Gmail address has nothing to do with granting application access to your Gmail account.
The former is basic spoofing; the same thing spammers do to make it look like "you" sent that C!alis email. Any mail server can put whatever they want in email fields, no special access required.
The latter means that LinkedIn can actually harvest your list of contacts in Gmail for marketing. Way worse IMO and I encourage people to be very careful about what apps they authorize into their personal accounts like Google.
The former is basic spoofing; the same thing spammers do to make it look like "you" sent that C!alis email. Any mail server can put whatever they want in email fields, no special access required.
The latter means that LinkedIn can actually harvest your list of contacts in Gmail for marketing. Way worse IMO and I encourage people to be very careful about what apps they authorize into their personal accounts like Google.
I can't quit you, LinkedIn.
On one hand, I hate it for all the reasons everyone has already mentioned.
On the other, I wouldn't have my current job (which I love) if not for LinkedIn. And since that job has paid me something in the neighborhood of a quarter-million dollars over the last several years, that makes LinkedIn about a quarter-million dollars more valuable to me than all other social networks put together.
I can't quit you, LinkedIn.
On one hand, I hate it for all the reasons everyone has already mentioned.
On the other, I wouldn't have my current job (which I love) if not for LinkedIn. And since that job has paid me something in the neighborhood of a quarter-million dollars over the last several years, that makes LinkedIn about a quarter-million dollars more valuable to me than all other social networks put together.
I can't quit you, LinkedIn.
Articles like these dilute the seriousness of some of the other legit posts on why one should quit some other sites, e.g. Facebook.
I haven't gone to the extent of deleting my account, but I have removed my entire work history and all details except a "contact me via another medium" message. I suppose it is at least a placeholder to stop anyone trying to impersonate me.
But I have missed exactly zero content of worth. All I ever got were endless spammy e-mails from recruiters.
But I have missed exactly zero content of worth. All I ever got were endless spammy e-mails from recruiters.
>> A quick scan of my Google account reveals that I have granted access to 49 different websites. AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT MOST OF THEM ARE, OR WHAT PERMISSIONS I GAVE THEM.
It really pays to observe what permissions are being asked for. When a flashlight app asks for your GPS, and network communication, you know something's amiss.
It really pays to observe what permissions are being asked for. When a flashlight app asks for your GPS, and network communication, you know something's amiss.
Or it just wants to show ads.
Ironically, yesterday I deleted my Linkedin account, just because it is totally useless for me and for 101% of those in my circles (or network or how you want to call it), except for a sense of doing the right thing and being professional in their social networking.
Not to mention their dubious approach to password management, of course.
Not to mention their dubious approach to password management, of course.
On skimming, the piece does not appear to provide any technical how to info nor does it indicate what it really means for the account to be officially closed. Can one really delete a LinkedIn account? I vaguely had the impression you could not really truly get rid of it.
While deleting your account is certainly one of the options, I disabled all email notifications and removed all the recruiters that added me. Now I am careful about which requests I approve. Overall, LikedIn can be useful for connecting to new colleagues or former ones.
So I should delete my LinkedIn because YOU don't like it?
Uh... ok....let me get right on that
Uh... ok....let me get right on that
LinkedIn has been a great way for me to build clients and put myself out there. I routinely get inquiries from my portfolio. I just recently landed a new client through LinkedIn. I'll keep it for now.
I'm afraid after you signed up for LinkedIn there's no way to completely remove your data. It might be a good idea to limit the information on your profile and keep it dormant.
I use unroll.me and that way I only see one daily digest of my LinkedIn emails and any other spammy things I signed up for at some point for some reason unbeknownst to me now.
I managed to delete my account about a year ago, on my second attempt. That was after two unsuccessful attempts to unsubscribe from literally all emails from them.
Before deleting my account, I unsubscribed from several groups. Yet two weeks later I was still getting daily updates from the unsubscribed groups. Also, even though I had unsubscribed and they were not on my group list, they still showed up on my public profile. After two support tickets, the emails stopped.
Then I decided that LinkedIn was useless to me so I deleted my account. For two weeks, I still continued to get daily email updates even though I no longer had an account. After another support ticket, the emails stopped.
Then I decided that LinkedIn was useless to me so I deleted my account. For two weeks, I still continued to get daily email updates even though I no longer had an account. After another support ticket, the emails stopped.
If you tell other people what they should do, at least have the decency of writing a READABLE ARTICLE.
All I get from this is "author is angry".
All I get from this is "author is angry".
i am pondering opening linkedin account. the idea of networking and possible job prospects are intriguing, but displaying my profile publicly creeps me out. also it seems better fitted for people with a straight career path. when applying for jobs i tend to target job postings with each resume, not sure how would that work with linkedin.
You can customize what's displayed on the public profile, section by section.
You are a nobody without a LinkedIn account.
so if I'm reading this correct, he hates linked in because they spam him with email?
Gosh, its my resume. And recruiters call me. And I have all my recommendations in one place. sorry, but I'd like to hold on to my account if you dont mind.
I did this like 2 months ago and it's been really great.
I deleted it when they had the password leak last year.
As I was reading this article I received an email from a recruiter on LinkedIn...
I checked my inbox. Every email from LinkedIn is '[email protected]' or some variation. It was kind of hard to believe the rest after that.
[deleted]
LinkedIn is ripe for disruption. A great idea for a start-up but without LEO.
A bunch of people have (correctly, I think) pointed out that more recent LinkedIn emails come from them directly. I have seen emails as recent as 2012 sent from user addresses: http://imgur.com/gallery/fapPDhZ/new (sorry for the manic smudging).
Anyhow, assuming these are anomalous, and that LinkedIn has generally moved to sending emails properly, I still stand by my decision to close down my account. I haven't gotten anything useful out of it and I have been consistently annoyed by it. Not devastating, but like I said, annoying. If you use it and love it then great! I hope LinkedIn keeps on improving and becomes/stays (your option) a great company. But if you're not getting anything out of it, then I think it would behoove you to think twice about why you maintain the account, and if it's nothing but annoying then at least consider getting rid of it.
Anyhow, assuming these are anomalous, and that LinkedIn has generally moved to sending emails properly, I still stand by my decision to close down my account. I haven't gotten anything useful out of it and I have been consistently annoyed by it. Not devastating, but like I said, annoying. If you use it and love it then great! I hope LinkedIn keeps on improving and becomes/stays (your option) a great company. But if you're not getting anything out of it, then I think it would behoove you to think twice about why you maintain the account, and if it's nothing but annoying then at least consider getting rid of it.
That's probably just a narrow situation where the sender knows your email address and is sending a message from within LinkedIn. It's not that LinkedIn has modified its email sending behavior in the past year or 2. I am sure you can confirm for us that the dozens or 100s of other emails you have received "from" LinkedIn are actually being send "From:" LinkedIn?
So I'm sorry that you don't like the site, but I politely decline your recommendation to delete my account.