When you look at “those of us with large networks” are you looking at things in perspective? For example, I’ve been a trainer and speaker since 1996. I have been in front of and met in person thousands even before I hit the international stage in 1999. Before the days of LinkedIn, my outlook contact list of people I had actually met and interacted with was over 6500. In my sub-folder for people I had met in person and shared a meal with or done business with was over 3500.

And as to my network size personally, I do connect to people I don’t know. And I connect to people when I’m going to be in their town, attending the same events, sharing the stage at a multi-speaker conference, and engaging in relevant and interesting discussions in groups I belong to.

How can you call what I’ve just described as abuse? How does it devalue the system when I open the door for people who are interested to do business with me?

You are right on one count, there is a growing amount of spam and there are people that build networks that abuse the system, but to group us all together is wholly unfair and arrogant to say the least.

And LinkedIn doesn’t have to worry about becoming another MySpace or Facebook. Facebook was created to mimic the college experience. That’s where it started and it has grown as the college kids have spread and grown and shared with their friends and family. LinkedIn was created by and for business professionals and their demographics and environment continue to mirror that.

Will LinkedIn tell you to connect to people you don’t know? Of course not! If anything bad happens to anyone, they have a legal liability. Saying don’t while enabling you to allows people the freedom to make their own choices about what works best for them.

For me, that’s an open network and an approachable presence. By the way, that same strategy didn’t work out so bad for a man named Barak, did it? So gain, I thank you for your comment and hope you’ll at least consider there are exceptions to every rule, every stereotype. Most active open networkers on LinkedIn are not spammers or abusers. Many I am proud to be able to say I have spoken to and consider a peer.

I’ve noticed, over the past year, that the Signal to Noise Ratio of link requests has dropped precipitously, as more and more people I neither know, nor in many cases want to know (vendors of plastic goods from China, for example), send me linkedIN requests.

My guess is that this is the result of what you, and people like you, have been advocating and training people on.

The problem with your success is that you undermine the value of the network. Metcalfe’s law does not apply to human networks beyond a very small number, as most people can’t actually keep up with more than a few hundred close contacts. In fact, once a network of human connections exceeds a certain size, which varies with the individual, it rapidly becomes useless, as it consumes more time with irrelevancies and to maintain than the value it brings.

Accordingly, the invasion of Direct Marketing Professionals (what those of us in the security world call SPAMmers) using linkedin actually devalues it as a tool for real professional networking.

LinkedIN is doing what they can to prevent being another MySpace or Facebook, where the SNR, and therefore the value of the service as a business tool, is next to zero. Instead of helping people end-run it, do us all a favor and advocate using LinkedIN the way it was MEANT to be used: link in to those you really know and would associate with, and if you need an introduction in your network, ask those you’re linked into to give you one, in person.

Why don’t you connect with me by email at training@integratedalliances.com and let’s see if we can find more specifics and figure out how to get a response from customer service.

Here is a good lesson for people though: what is considered unprofessional behavior is not tolerated and can be removed by LinkedIn. It’s better to use other platforms for these issues. If you wouldn’t say it in a business meeting in front of your customers and peers, don’t say it on LinkedIn.

Why don’t you connect with me by email at training@integratedalliances.com and let’s see if we can find more specifics and figure out how to get a response from customer service.

Here is a good lesson for people though: what is considered unprofessional behavior is not tolerated and can be removed by LinkedIn. It’s better to use other platforms for these issues. If you wouldn’t say it in a business meeting in front of your customers and peers, don’t say it on LinkedIn.

My access to my network has been suspended without notice, I received an automated email from Customer service and I’ve replied several times and get another automated reply asking me if I know what I did? it’s frustrating.
I posted a comment in my comment section about a company and it’s owner about their accounting practices, that they were double dipping finance charges and using fuzzy math and I told my network to be Buyer Beware.
I did not tell anyone not to use their service just to be aware that they need to ask bout how finance charges would be calculated.
The company contacted Linkedin and claimed abuse and I have been restricted from my contacts since Sunday. this has cost me unrealized business, because I can not reply to pending request for my business.
I have asked Linked in to call me or give me a number to call them and discuss, and I got an email that customer service only uses email no phone service.
I have asked who determines the remarks are slanderous in nature with no reply. I just receive another email asking me if I know what I did???
Extremely frustration and arbitrary on such a powerful tool and resource.

My access to my network has been suspended without notice, I received an automated email from Customer service and I’ve replied several times and get another automated reply asking me if I know what I did? it’s frustrating.
I posted a comment in my comment section about a company and it’s owner about their accounting practices, that they were double dipping finance charges and using fuzzy math and I told my network to be Buyer Beware.
I did not tell anyone not to use their service just to be aware that they need to ask bout how finance charges would be calculated.
The company contacted Linkedin and claimed abuse and I have been restricted from my contacts since Sunday. this has cost me unrealized business, because I can not reply to pending request for my business.
I have asked Linked in to call me or give me a number to call them and discuss, and I got an email that customer service only uses email no phone service.
I have asked who determines the remarks are slanderous in nature with no reply. I just receive another email asking me if I know what I did???
Extremely frustration and arbitrary on such a powerful tool and resource.

1) having anything in the name field other than your name
2) listing your email address and/or phone number in your headline
3) having repeated offenses of your messages or posts being flagged as spam
4) having an outstanding invoice – pay those bills if you can find them!

A couple of very serious infractions include:

5) setting up fake profiles to “phish” for information or to defraud users
6) scraping information from profiles to use in an unauthorized marketing campaign

We put a post out on Twitter asking for examples of people that had been suspended and why. This is a great place to post those comments.

1) having anything in the name field other than your name
2) listing your email address and/or phone number in your headline
3) having repeated offenses of your messages or posts being flagged as spam
4) having an outstanding invoice – pay those bills if you can find them!

A couple of very serious infractions include:

5) setting up fake profiles to “phish” for information or to defraud users
6) scraping information from profiles to use in an unauthorized marketing campaign

We put a post out on Twitter asking for examples of people that had been suspended and why. This is a great place to post those comments.