# Ed Zotti Wants to be My Friend on LinkedIn? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 8, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339 "2013-03-08T01:55:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/1 "2013-03-08T01:55:57Z")
> [@](#): > > From Ed Zotti > > Writing and Editing Consultant and Contractor > Greater Chicago Area > > I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. > > - Ed What sorcery is this? Or rather, huh? Why? ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/2 "2013-03-08T02:07:01Z")
That’s interesting. Did you have correspondence with him? LinkedIn will seize your address book if you let it. But usually Ed’s not a joiner … Let me check with him and see what’s up. If any of the rest of you get this link, don’t click on it until I see if it’s legit. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/3 "2013-03-08T02:09:38Z")
Ed Zotti endorses Justin\_Bailey for the skill of Message Board Poster ---
**Author:** ![Ed\_Zotti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/fbc32d/32.png) [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/4 "2013-03-08T02:24:21Z")
Shit. I was updating my LinkedIn profile and clicked on something I obviously shouldn’t have. Feel free to ignore. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/5 "2013-03-08T02:34:37Z")
> [@Ed\_Zotti](#): > > Shit. I was updating my LinkedIn profile and clicked on something I obviously shouldn’t have. Feel free to ignore. Oh, come on man! Join my network! Friend me on Facebook! **Follow my tweets!** _ **Foursquare me! Hard!** _ ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/6 "2013-03-08T03:09:38Z")
I got this same invitation in the last couple hours. What’s really odd is that I don’t have a LinkdIn account. Or at least I don’t think I do. I had one that proved so annoying I tried very hard to cancel it and drive a stake into it. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/7 "2013-03-08T03:26:09Z")
Ed Zotti saved my life in 'Nam. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/8 "2013-03-08T03:55:11Z")
> [@Ed\_Zotti](#): > > Shit. I was updating my LinkedIn profile and clicked on something I obviously shouldn’t have. Feel free to ignore. So, we’re not good enough for you?! Well, I never… ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/9 "2013-03-08T04:05:46Z")
Aha. I was about to tell Ed apologetically I don’t do LinkedIn…glad I stopped by. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/10 "2013-03-08T04:07:11Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I got this same invitation in the last couple hours. What’s really odd is that I don’t have a LinkdIn account. What’s odd about that? It was sent to a list of email addresses. If you clicked on the link, you have the choice of connecting him to your LinkeIn account or creating one. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/11 "2013-03-08T04:25:00Z")
So that endorsement I just got from him isn’t legit? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/12 "2013-03-08T04:26:24Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > What’s odd about that? It was sent to a list of email addresses. If you clicked on the link, you have the choice of connecting him to your LinkeIn account or creating one. I assumed such a list would be generated by other LinkdIn accounts. I don’t have an account. And even if I did, I have no idea how the two of us could have been linked together. And if LinkdIn is just suggesting random linkups, then anyone with one of those premium accounts is just getting ripped off. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/13 "2013-03-08T05:00:48Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I assumed such a list would be generated by other LinkdIn accounts. I don’t have an account. And even if I did, I have no idea how the two of us could have been linked together. And if LinkdIn is just suggesting random linkups, then anyone with one of those premium accounts is just getting ripped off. It’s like Facebook or any other social network. You can give it permission to access your email and it sends invitations to the entire list of contacts. **Ed** accidentally selected that option. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/14 "2013-03-08T05:14:28Z")
> [@Ed\_Zotti](#): > > Shit. I was updating my LinkedIn profile and clicked on something I obviously shouldn’t have. Feel free to ignore. Nope, you can’t get rid of me that quick! You are stuck with me now. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/15 "2013-03-08T05:16:00Z")
Ed, accept my link. And write me a letter of recommendation. And pick me up from the airport. And help me move. Oh, yeah, need a liver, too. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/16 "2013-03-08T05:27:27Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > It’s like Facebook or any other social network. You can give it permission to access your email and it sends invitations to the entire list of contacts. **Ed** accidentally selected that option. AFAICR, Ed and I never corresponded by email, so I’m somewhat doubtful I’m among his contacts. But perhaps he’s secretly stalking me? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/17 "2013-03-08T05:32:39Z")
Was it to your dope email? Because you’ve got the vCard download allowed so anyone who’s a member can download a nifty little contact file with your username and email that integrates seamlessly into an email program. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/18 "2013-03-08T05:37:00Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Was it to your dope email? Because you’ve got the vCard download allowed so anyone who’s a member can download a nifty little contact file with your username and email that integrates seamlessly into an email program. It was to an old email address, but that address was the one I initially signed up here with. So if Ed did this some years back, that’s a possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/19 "2013-03-08T09:51:22Z")
Maybe this explains some LinkedIn invites I’ve been getting. I don’t have a LI account and I’m definitely not the sort of person who would be in the LI market. That’s for professionals, whereas I’ve always been a more-or-less good-for-nothing bum, and getting steadily more so. Yet, I’m getting LI invites from a cousin of mine, who is a professional on LI. I suspect that she doesn’t even know she’s sending me those requests. Perhaps the above posts in this thread explain what’s going on. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339/20 "2013-03-08T11:56:30Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Ed Zotti saved my life in 'Nam. Ed Zotti killed my Pa! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-wants-to-be-my-friend-on-linkedin/652339.md?page=2)