# No, I will not connect with you on Linkedin **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 12, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871 "2015-05-12T17:02:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/1 "2015-05-12T17:02:17Z")
(Too mild to be Pitworthy) Received a request from someone whose name I did not recognize. Looking through her previous jobs, I noticed she’d worked at a couple of places where I also had been, but years after I had left. Then I finally realized where I knew her from. About six years ago when I was unemployed and really hurting, a colleague called in a favor and got me an interview with the connector’s company. The company called me out of the blue and asked me to do a presentation about myself instead of a standard interview. I worked very hard on that presentation, only to discover that she and several of the people I was supposed to talk to bailed because of “an important meeting” that had just been called minutes before I got there. I ended up doing my presentation to a couple of underlings, answered some HR-type questions and never heard another word from anyone. So now YOU want to use ME as a professional connection so you can find another job? Sorry, lady. What goes around comes around. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/2 "2015-05-12T18:13:27Z")
Sounds like it would have been a shitty place to work, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/3 "2015-05-12T18:21:13Z")
That. If they wouldn’t reschedule the interview so they could give you their full attention, then they were just going through the motions as a courtesy. Be glad they didn’t waste any more of your time than they did. That said, any profession is a small world, and you don’t have anything to gain by refusing. This isn’t Facebook and liking people or not is irrelevant. As maddening as it sometimes is, you have to keep all your bridges intact, even if you don’t think they really are bridges. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/4 "2015-05-12T21:13:48Z")
I get lots of LinkedIn requests. Some are from randos whose names I don’t even recognize. Others ring a tiny bell, and often if I search my gmail inbox, I come up with a one-off interaction I had with them long ago (job interview, sold them something on craigslist, etc.) I’m pretty sure these latter are the people that allow LinkedIn permission to trawl their email contacts and send requests to every email address they find. Not a particularly valuable exercise, if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/5 "2015-05-12T21:33:28Z")
I’ve been retired for four and a half years and still get requests. I think you have nailed the reason. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/6 "2015-05-12T21:39:49Z")
Gawd…if I ever feel the need to link to one the many batshit crazy dumbasses I’ve interacted with on Craig’s list please put a bullet in my brain. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/7 "2015-05-12T23:28:53Z")
Yes, I get requests to email accounts that are not associated with my LI account. AFAIK I’m the only person with my name in the world, and my account can be found with a simple search. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/8 "2015-05-13T00:52:39Z")
I treat Linkedin requests as spam. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/9 "2015-05-13T02:02:46Z")
My philosophy toward Linkedin is that I will only connect with you if I can vouch for your skills and how it is like to work with you. Nevertheless, I almost always accept requests from within my industry because it really is an industry where you bump into the “usual suspects” at any conference, and it is cool to keep those links; if someone was a butthead, they probably aren’t interested in connecting with me anyway. But when folks who I know socially send me Linkedin requests, I feel awkward: how does the fact that we know each other socially make me able to vouch for you as a graphic artist, interior designer, mechanical engineer, or whatever? I am not in those fields, so I couldn’t say anything useful to a prospective employer. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/10 "2015-05-13T02:14:05Z")
Linking is not vouching. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/11 "2015-05-13T02:22:57Z")
I’ve never viewed linkedin connections as vouching. Those silly endorsements are meant for vouching for someone (and are pointless, in my opinion). LinkedIn is simply for playing six degrees of separation in case someone knows someone who can be useful to you in business. You never know else who someone you barely know, knows. Those connections can be very useful. These aren’t friendhip requests but potential contacts. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/12 "2015-05-13T03:21:58Z")
I don’t expect everyone to agree with me. I simply prefer to not treat LinkedIn as Facebook, they have separate purposes and audiences in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/13 "2015-05-13T05:50:10Z")
I view them as saying either “you can contact me” or “ok, since I know you and know your professional skills, you can use me as a reference”. People whose contact in other media I wouldn’t acknowledge if they were the only other person left on Earth, or who I don’t know from Adam - no linking. I’m finding the endorsements a PITA. If I ever met whomever decided to make it possible for people to add skills to someone else I’ll use him to relive my Animal Anatomy classes :mad: I keep having well-meaning but clueless people add to me stuff that I very specifically do not want to list (even if it’s something I can do, I don’t want to). ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/14 "2015-05-13T10:42:33Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > I don’t expect everyone to agree with me. I simply prefer to not treat LinkedIn as Facebook, they have separate purposes and audiences in my opinion. I agree that it’s not Facebook. I don’t accept everyone who sends a request either but I’m actually more selective on Facebook. If I’m FB friends with someone that does imply some sort of positive relationship with them. I personally would never assume someone’s connection list on LinkedIn means I endorse or vouch for those people. They are simply potential contacts that might be useful to me. Obviously YMMV but I don’t think most people view or use it that way. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/15 "2015-05-13T14:22:50Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I treat Linkedin requests as spam. Same here. Most of the ones I’ve gotten are personal/hobby friends and not professional contacts anyway. It’s just the current silly fad to be there somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/16 "2015-05-13T14:31:24Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I’m finding the endorsements a PITA. If I ever met whomever decided to make it possible for people to add skills to someone else I’ll use him to relive my Animal Anatomy classes :mad: I keep having well-meaning but clueless people add to me stuff that I very specifically do not want to list (even if it’s something I can do, I don’t want to). Does anyone pay attention to “endorsements”? Because I have many endorsements from people who have never seen any evidence that I can do the things they endorsed me for. It’s not that I don’t have skills in underwater basket weaving\* or that I mind being known for it. But I know for a fact that you’ve not seen me do it. I’ve never spoken about that in front of you. You’ve never even seen a basket. Why are you clicking the “endorse” button? \*I really actually can do that ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/17 "2015-05-13T15:09:58Z")
The thing that irritates me most about LinkedIn requests is that there doesn’t seem to be a way to reply to the requestor explaining why I’m not adding them to my LinkedIn page. Which is that, as far as I know, I don’t actually have one. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/18 "2015-05-13T15:10:45Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > LinkedIn is simply for playing six degrees of separation in case someone knows someone who can be useful to you in business. You never know else who someone you barely know, knows. Those connections can be very useful. These aren’t friendhip requests but potential contacts. I agree that this is what LinkedIn contacts are about. But I don’t see that being connected with someone that you don’t know or barely know will help you in that regard. And this is especially true when you consider that the same people sending you requests though they barely know you are doing the same thing to everyone else that they barely know, and these people can have thousands of contacts, so you’re not going to be on their radar even if you accept their request. I generally ignore these requests (and my field - actuarial - is a lot smaller than most) unless it’s someone I either know and/or have worked with or it’s someone I don’t want to insult. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/19 "2015-05-13T15:21:47Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Same here. Most of the ones I’ve gotten are personal/hobby friends and not professional contacts anyway. It’s just the current silly fad to be there somewhere. There was a spate of requests using work mail, from people whose work is quite unrelated to mine. I think someone’s email was compromised. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871/20 "2015-05-13T15:39:30Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > It’s just the current silly fad to be there somewhere. If you’re confident you’ll never have to go job-hunting again, then yes, I suppose it is. If you do, though, for a professional position of any kind, LinkedIn is how it’s done nowadays. That’s where recruiters search, often _only_ there, that’s where status changes get posted and noticed, and that’s how contacts can pay off, to your surprise. Career opportunities get posted there widely, and again sometimes _only_ there, and applying is typically a matter of a few clicks to send your online resume. LinkedIn is about networking via “the power of weak connections” - people you know well, or are similar to, probably know the same people you do and can’t help you get a job any more than you can do for yourself. People you’re weakly connected to know a whole lot more people, they know of markets and opportunities that your friends don’t, and they can put you in touch. Even somebody you do know who you think may have screwed you before may not do it again - most people aren’t in the intentional screwing business - and can be somebody you may be grateful you kept in contact with. > [@amarinth](#): > > Does anyone pay attention to “endorsements”? Recruiters screening a whole bunch of LinkedIn profiles will notice ones with a lot of contacts and endorsements more than ones without them. Yes, it’s superficial and even silly, but yes, it’s how the system often works. You endorse your contacts, even on the basis of superficial/nonexistent knowledge, so they’ll endorse you in turn. Again, it isn’t Facebook. It’s just a tool, a vital career tool, to be used in a mercenary manner. You need to work it so it will be there for you when you need it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-i-will-not-connect-with-you-on-linkedin/719871.md?page=2)