Recent LinkedIn Changes: Boom or Bust?

• Author: Shally Steckerl
• Posted: July 3, 2007
• Category: Recruiting
• Tags: No Tags
• Comments:

LinkedIn’s recent changes have made me take a very good look at what they have done in an attempt to “control” how you and I network through their so-called social networking platform. Since introducing LinkedIn to the recruiting community in 2004 you’ve heard me speak very highly of them. Previously I have gaven them praise for a recent development that makes it easier for us to manage our inboxes.
 
But recent changes gave me serious pause!
 
Only for a moment, until I considered all the implications, I was stunned by their decision to control how we send out networking invitations to people from within LinkedIn. Long-time friend and fellow LinkedIn guru Danny Thomas (he’s an open connector - invite him to your network via danny.thomas at zyman dot com) brought this to my attention shortly after it was put in place:
 
Invitations are now limited to 256 characters!
 
And that’s INCLUDING spaces! Yeah, spaces. Imagine! That’s not very much at all. You can’t really say much of anything in 256 characters.

For example, if you wanted to invite Danny you could try:

Danny,

I found your profile and noticed you are an open linked networker like me. I’m looking to connect with people in the Recruiting industry so we can share leads, ideas and business contacts. Would you please accept my invitation to share networks?

Thank you,
Shally

But that is not accepted by LinkedIn because it is too long. The above is counted as 284 characters. So we have to shorten it by at least 28, depending on how many characters are in your first name. Or, you could leave your signature out altogether.

I went with this:

Danny,

I found your profile and noticed you are an open linked networker like me. I’d like to connect with people in the Recruiting industry to share leads, ideas and contacts. Would you accept my invitation to share networks?

Thanks,
Shally

But the fun doesn’t end there. I MUST also choose how I know this person. Is this because LinkedIn doesn’t trust me? My choices are:

• Colleague
• Classmate
• Business Partner
• Friend
• Other
• I don’t know Danny

Now for the good news, if I choose Colleague, Classmate or Business Partner, I don’t need someone’s email address. This is good because I can now reconnect with alumni from both my employers and alma mater without needing to know their current address.

If I choose Friend or Other then I do need their email, but this is the way it “used to be” before the change, so nothing new here, only I have to specify if Danny is my friend if he is my Other – which could be very negatively perceived. After all, I don’t want to be anyone’s Other. How bizarre a way to start a conversation! Dear Other, LOL!!

But – here’s the best piece of news, I can now choose I don’t know Danny and for that I don’t need his email address! If I know he’s open to accepting invitations then I just select that and trust he will accept mine, no need to guess or find his email.

As you can see with the new LinkedIn, it’s a bit easier to connect with someone who is an open connector, LION, or TopLinked, and its MUCH more difficult to connect with people where you may need a bit of an explanation. The 256 limit makes it very awkward to explain to someone why you want to connect with them. It’s just too short a window.

Conclusion: LinkedIn Good or Bad?

Both.

Let me explain – it’s easier to connect with people when we don’t have their email addresses, but it’s harder to connect with people to whom we need to address a few words expressing our request. I think its terrible that they shrunk the limit and I see no reason, nor value for doing that, other than to punish or inhibit power connectors, or people like recruiters who use LinkedIn to find and connect with new people. But at the same time I thank them for making it easier to connect with colleagues, alumni and complete strangers who are open to networking.

What you should do now:

• Write a note via regular email to someone, before you invite them to connect. That way, from within LinkedIn all you have to say is “Per my previous email, I would like to request a connection with you on LinkedIn” or something to that effect.
• Go crazy connecting with people you don’t know but who are open to connections (LIONS, MPLF, TopLinked MyLinkWiki, or Open Link).

• Search for people you have: done business with, worked with and went to school with, and you can now invite them because you don’t need their addresses, and as fellow alumni they should be open to connect.

• The webmail lookup still works, so run that, and add people from your Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and AOL accounts. Use this link as a shortcut.

• Let LinkedIn scan your Outlook (if on a work computer check company policy) to find everyone in your Inbox who also has a LinkedIn account. Use this link as a shortcut.

• Upload your contacts from ACT!, Outlook PST files, your handheld contact managers or PDAs, or any spreadsheet. Once you upload them LinkedIn will tell you if they already have an account and then it’s easy to invite them. Use this link as a shortcut.

• Paste a bunch of email addresses, separated by a comma and LinkedIn will tell you if those people are already users. Use this link as a shortcut.

Here are three other LinkedIn articles you may enjoy:

• New way to add contacts to your LinkedIn network
• Becoming a Promiscuous Linker on LinkedIn
• LinkedIn Kung-Fu

All this and much more about getting the most from your LinekdIn networks can be reviewed in detail in my LinkedIn CheatSheet.

I also plan on releasing a document that includes many template ideas for managing your network, forwarding requests, rejecting requests, asking for invitations, accepting or declining requests, and creating your own “Invite me to LinkedIn campaign.” In the meantime, the above should keep you busy, though it is now a bit harder to network.