5 Things You Should Stop Doing On LinkedIn

There is a thin line between love and hate.

I love LinkedIn and other social networking sites where I can meet new people and be inspired by others from different backgrounds and mindsets. My network has expanded since I joined Twitter early 2010 and I enjoy connecting with tweeps on other networking sites as well. However, as we know from real life, unwritten rules do exist. Some people just don’t seem to know them yet.

I have read a couple of great blog posts on how you can upgrade and improve your LinkedIn profile, but I feel like I’m missing a list on annoying behavior: things people should really stop doing.

Here are my pet peeves on LinkedIn:

1. Integrating Twitter with your LinkedIn News Feed  

LinkedIn has given us the opportunity to synchronize our Twitter accounts with LinkedIn. I like seeing people sharing articles that they find interesting or see a perspective on new methods etc. In my opinion, this gives life to the somewhat boring News Feed on LinkedIn. This is a great idea if it wasn’t for the few people who are overdoing it. What people seem to forget is that Twitter and LinkedIn are two different sites made for different purposes. I consider it annoying when some feel the need to share personal and private updates. I have been clicking on the “Hide” button on a few people, because their updates were not relevant – no one likes spam.

Before you hit “Enter”: look at the content of your status update and choose a target group for it. Everyone uses Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ differently, and you know your friends/followers/connections best, therefore, you are the one who can select the right communication channel for your target group.

What you can do if you want to share interesting updates on both Twitter & LinkedIn:

-  Go to linkedin.com, place the mouse over your name in the right upper corner, and click on “Settings”. Then, choose “Manage your Twitter settings”, and check the box “Share only tweets that contain #in (#li also works) in your LinkedIn status”. In this way, you can use the hashtag #in or #li to control which tweets go directly on your LinkedIn profile.

UPDATE: as of January 2012, LinkedIn has shut down its Tweets application. Tweets with the hashtag #in will still be displayed on your profile. And you’ll still be able to tweet from LinkedIn directly, and post from Twitter to LinkedIn with the hashtag #in.

2. Adding strangers to your network under false pretenses   

In the last couple of weeks, I have received massive requests from strangers from e.g. Great Britain, USA etc. I may be the only one experiencing this? What seems to be common for all of them is that they are all male and indicating that “we have worked together” in some company I have never heard of. No message, no nothing.

I don’t mind connecting with people I have never met before, but ALWAYS write a message when adding them to your network if you haven’t interacted before. Write who you are and why you are adding them. Be honest and clear with what your intentions are. No one will judge you if you just want to expand your network.

3. Writing your phone number next to your name

I have seen a couple of people doing this: their full name and phone number next to it. All I can think of is “But why?!”. This seems a little too pushy and desperate. If some future employer or partner thinks you’re interesting, they will get hold of your phone number one way or the other, don’t worry about that.

4. Writing your entire work experience in Summary

The word “summary” pretty much defines itself. The Summary section is a good way to give a short and clear presentation of who you are, what you have achieved and what your ambitions are. A few times, I have come across profiles and summaries filled with detailed work experience, company names, years etc. Looking like this:

2008-2010: [position] at [company name]

2005-2008: [position] at [company name]

This is just repetitive since the work experience is already filled out in the boxes below. There is no need to overdo it.

5. Stalking people

Since the rise of social media, it has become easier to follow people and ‘get to know them’ without really knowing them. Unfortunately, there is a downside to this. Every now and then, there is the occasional stalker who seems infatuated by your online presence that he/she visits your profile constantly (of reasons that I don’t know). The stalking is not restricted to LinkedIn only, but also on other social networking sites. A couple of weeks ago, I experienced stalking behavior on different sites from a weird guy that I have never met or talked to. He started by adding me on LinkedIn, then moved to Twitter and finally over on Facebook. He kept re-adding me on Facebook even after I declined his many requests. I blocked him as I felt it became too much. Now he’s just visiting my LinkedIn profile from time to time.

What do you think of this list? If you have experienced other annoying behavior on LinkedIn, feel free to share it in a comment below.