Is LinkedIn the Creepiest Social Network?

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LinkedIn is the creepiest social network? I thought Facebook held that title? :D

Let’s begin with the “People You May Know” feature. Every time I sign in, I’m startled by one of the names they suggest. My reactions range from “How did you know I know them?” to “There’s no way you should know I know them” to “Ok, I don’t know that person, but they have the same name as someone I do know, and you shouldn’t even know that.”
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heh, I thought that was just me... really freaks me out sometimes when I get emails from them
 
If you don't want those suggestions, than use a separate email and do not network/add people on there. The whole point is to network on there.
 
hypertek said:
The whole point is to network on there.
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Yep. It's a network to network. The ability for their algorithms to assess your current network, and suggest future individuals to add to your network is vital to what the site does. Thus, chances are, you will get suggestions to add people you already know, as it is assessing who you know, and who those people know, and suggesting from there.
 
Some people really are paranoid. It is just showing you the connections of your connections. Also, if you know 20 people that all know person x then there is a good probability that you know person x as well.
 
Facebook does this, and I haven't even connected to anyone right after signing up! :O
 
linked in... who actually use this?

i know architects , finance VP , business owners , engineers and NONE of them use linked in.
 
LinkedIn is a great tool for professional networking except when the recruiters start pinging you because of a few key words in your profile. But you always have the option of telling them "no" I do not want to network with you. Your loss if you are looking for a job....big plus if you are. I'm in IT, so it helps out alot considering there are so many different non traditional paths into the IT profession.
 
The one that annoys me is when it suggests my wife's ex-husband...

No thanks, we want *NOTHING* to do with him.
 
breal1 said:
LinkedIn is a great tool for professional networking except when the recruiters start pinging you because of a few key words in your profile. But you always have the option of telling them "no" I do not want to network with you. Your loss if you are looking for a job....big plus if you are. I'm in IT, so it helps out alot considering there are so many different non traditional paths into the IT profession.
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Pretty much true except that there really isn't anything professional about IT work. It's more or less a working class career track now that the field is saturated with desperate people. Tech support and clerical/admin jobs pay about the same with the difference being that everyone wants you to have paid for a college degree for an IT job.

And it's pretty much true except that LinkedIn is a social network filled with job-hungry people looking to either build their careers and step on others along the way or for the unemployed. Putting any information out on it makes you a candidate to get yourself stepped on by someone else looking for advancement riding on your back.

Really, if LinkedIn is looking this creepy, old Uncle Google has some work to do back at his Google+ ranch this weekend. :(
 
It's like playing 6 degrees from Kevin Bacon. Some guy I went to high school with works with another guy, and that other guy knows this guy that I met at some party. Weird how that works, but it can be a small world sometimes.

Guy from party? How'd they know I knew him!? Oh, you know xxx and he knows yyy, which is the brother of the guy I went to school with.

It's not creepy, it's just ... thorough? :)
 
txaggies07 said:
Some people really are paranoid. It is just showing you the connections of your connections. Also, if you know 20 people that all know person x then there is a good probability that you know person x as well.
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Not everyone wants to live in Fahrenheit 451's world or 1984... sadly, many are like you and don't even understand the idea, let alone the ramifications.
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
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And it's pretty much true except that LinkedIn is a social network filled with job-hungry people looking to either build their careers and step on others along the way or for the unemployed. Putting any information out on it makes you a candidate to get yourself stepped on by someone else looking for advancement riding on your back.
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Yup, seen too much of this unfortunately...

The algorithms LinkedIn must have developed, just like google, fb...etc... would still qualify as "creepy" for me. The ones they are probably working on right now and improving, that'll be something to see in the near future...
 
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