Slashdot Mirror
Linked In Or Out?
Mr_Whoopass writes "I am the IT Administrator for a regional restaurant chain, and as of late I am noticing more and more people sending me invitations to sites like LinkedIn, FaceBook, etc. Mother always taught me to be a skeptic, and, knowing more than the average Joe about how information can be used in this digital era, I am reticent to say the least about posting such personal details as my full name and where I work on the net for all to see. I have thus far managed to stay completely below the radar, and a search on Google has nothing on my real persona. However, now times are tough, and I see sales dropping in the industry I work in as it is a discretionary spending market to be sure. I wonder if I should loosen up on the paranoia a bit and start networking with some of these folks in case of the all too common layoff scenario that seems to be happening lately. What do other folks here think about this? I am specifically interested in what people who work in IT think (since I know that just about every moron who has 'Vice President' or sits on the 'Executive Team' is already on LinkedIn and has no clue about why they should be trying to protect their identity)."
...but I am surprised you are an IT admin and unaware of how both social and professional networking websites actually work. About the only thing strangers can see is your name.
Why are you afraid to put honest professional information out there? Nothing says you have to post everything about you. My profiles on social websites is very controlled and only portrays what I want. The basic rule, for me, is to keep my professional and business aspects of my life separate.
Lastly, I use my name for professional networking and a variation of my name for social. So, if a potential client e-stalks me with "Ruthered B. Hayes" they will never get the social sites I have under "R. Brenticus Hayes"
Bottom line, you control your image, be careful with it, but do not be afraid.
Blue! Arrrrrggg....
Privacy Is Dead, Get Over It with Steve Rambam: This is the first part of Rambam's essential lecture, presented in five-minute snippets. It's like a good book that you don't want to put down, you'll keep viewing the snippets (or search for the entire lecture if you have time to view it all at once). Nobody who uses LinkedIn or any other of what Rambam calls "self-contributed data sites" should miss this.
I created a Facebook account solely because somebody with the same name as I already had one, and people were assuming his profile was mine. So by creating a minimal profile on that social networking site, I took better control over my identity.
Linkedin has definite professional benefits, allows you to maintain limited contact with former co-workers, people who you might later find working in the same city as you've just moved to, or the firm where you are thinking of applying for a job.
If you refuse to voluntarily publish positive information about yourself, what will potential employers find? If nothing at all, they may tend to assume the worst, or at least assume you have no notable skills, hobbies, friends or publications.
I do not deploy Linux. Ever.
Alot of time when going through resumes, if we try to Google the person, do a usenet lookup or other such things and can't find them anywhere, to us (when evaluating resumes), it means you are lying on your resume or have very little work experience. Mainly because people in IT use the internet day in and day out to communicate, ask the community how to do something and so on.
If you aren't communicating, it doesn't tell me that you just aren't communicating, it tells me you have little experience. And in a sense, because you aren't using this resource for what it is for, it is somewhat true. Start posting questions in forums, and creating an online identity. Some online identity is better than NONE.
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
I use LinkedIn in the same way that I would keep a business card that someone gives me. However, the advantages of LinkedIn are:
There are probably more. If I was forced to drop Facebook or LinkedIn, I'd drop Facebook as LinkedIn is significantly more useful to me.
Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
This is just not true. I'm actively using social networking and local bbs's to get me + wife into the local social scene. We're both from out of town and we've moved to a place with very small tight groups of friends who have typically grown up together and are a little nervous about outsiders. It's not a good environment for walking up to people in bars and introducing yourself, but these sites allow you to start goofing around with people anonymously, which then makes them more interested and curious about you when you meet them IRL.
I think there are some fundamental differences between LinkedIn and the likes of Facebook, which is why I'm happy to be listed on the one but not the others.
In particular, LinkedIn has access only to professional information about me that I would typically share with a prospective client/employer anyway, and it only collects that information from me personally apart from the basic networking information that is the whole point (and is only collected/reliable with my confirmation anyway).
Facebook, in sharp contrast, got almost no information from me personally when I briefly signed up, yet practically had my whole life story within a couple of days because their entire MO is to get friends to volunteer information about each other. Moreover, the information that Facebook attempts to collect is often very personal and certainly not the sort of thing I would voluntarily share on-line.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
Well, the European Swallow flies an average of 11 meters per second so that's half the answer there.
For some great analysis on the topic, read this: http://www.style.org/unladenswallow/
Come play free flash games on Kongregate!