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LinkedIn (Temporarily) Backs Down After Uproar At Contact Export Removal

Posted by samzenpus on from the on-second-thought dept.

Mark Wilson writes: LinkedIn caused a storm a couple of days ago when it removed the option to instantly download contacts. Many users of the professional social network were more than a little irked to discover that while contact exporting was still available, a wait of up to three days had been put in place. Unsurprisingly, users revolted, having been particularly upset by the fact the change was implemented with no warning or announcement. But the company has managed to turn things around by quickly backtracking on its decision after listening to a stream of complaints on Twitter.

3 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's surprising because Google came to the opposite conclusion. A lock-in keeps current users, but it also slows down the arrival of new users, so it's a short-term vs long-term tradeoff.

  2. Oh and more! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Signing up, they want your contact information from your email client. WTF! And people give it to them!!

    And what sucks is that email addresses that I reserve for family and friends is now on LinkIN's site. I once created an account with my professional email and they knew exactly what my other email accounts were.

    And then there is the spam. And the folks who look at your profile and yet are able to hide their identities. And the recruiters who have a great opportunity and after sending them a resume, the jobs are "closed".

    LinkedIN is one big waste of time and it's worse than facebook in terms of privacy loss.

  3. Export of contacts is their prodict by tomhath · · Score: 4, Interesting

    removal of the regular download option had been "part of our ongoing efforts to combat the inappropriate export of member data by third parties." As a result of the vocal outpouring of disapproval, instant CSV exporting is back...

    I have to wonder who outpoured disapproval? It doesn't seem like something most users would care about.

    On the other hand, headhunters who use LinkedIn as a site for harvesting resumes would be angry. But isn't that the whole point of LinkedIn? To give recruiters your contact info so they can spam you?

    It wouldn't surprise me if this was just a publicity stunt.