Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Is LinkedIn losing it?

LinkedIn is supposed to be a professional network. Right? Though it is a personal freedom of the users to use the social networks as they please, LinkedIn was able to secure some niche uses. At least till recently. Recently I noticed my news feed filled up with completely irrelevant, Facebook-like updates. Sadly, these updates are still boring, unlike Facebook. Here are a few examples (names are changed), that are something completely irrelevant for a "Professional network".

1. Annoying "80% will fail" claims to childish tasks.


2. Information on who "likes" whose profile photos. 
Come on, I have Facebook for that, and I spend enough time doing and reading the same shit there! It is hiding more relevant information such as the news updates and opportunities from my friends and colleagues, which I use LinkedIn for. This is something to blame on LinkedIn, and not the users.

3. Some vague shit written by some weird "influencer"
I accept that I have read so many interesting news articles from LinkedIn. But the articles from influencers are often spam-material. To mention one, an  "influencer" discusses how she merrily fires 25% of her task force annually, as they are the bottom 25% in performance. She calls to fire the losers sooner - shoot the dogs early. Genius! I can tolerate her post, if she was my friend. But this is seriously some bull. Anyway, I don't pay for LinkedIn. Let me tolerate the trash for the good in it. I am just clueless how these people end up in my news feed as influencers. Probably they are paying for it. 

Fed up with all these influencers, as the final attempt, I tried to unsubscribe from the LinkedIn Pulse application, which brings these news item from unknown random people into my wall. But LinkedIn says, it is impossible. Annoyed users, however, have found ways to hide it though.

4. Philosophers and viral contents 
Probably LinkedIn wants to expand its user base beyond boring stuff, and make it as 'kewl' as Facebook. Everyone wants to be another Facebook, it seems. If that was not the case, they should at least consider letting me hide information such as "comment" or "like" activities, without unsubscribing from a person completely. These are anyway my personal opinions. Feel free to disagree.

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