What The Hell Is LinkedIn and Why Are They Bothering Me?

[Frankly Rich]

I have received a series of "invitations" to join something called LinkedIn. They supposedly come from a neighbor whom I haven't spoken to in years. I responded that i wasn't interested, but that was a waste of time because they remind me that I haven't responded. The reminders come with a dreary picture of the neighbor looking helpless that I haven't joined.

 

So, I wrote him and asked him why he gave my email to them. He responded that he didn't, and washed his hands of it. well, they didn't get my email address from me. It's the one I use for personal relationships and must have thought at one time that he was included in that.

 

I have no idea what LinkedIn is or why I would want to participate. Any help here? I have found that if you block an email address, they just come at you from another one, so I haven't blocked them. (A country club in Dallas insists that I am a member and keeps inviting me to functions, with all the invites coming from different addresses.)

[Boink]

LinkedIn is sort of like Facebook for job networking. Or, as my friend calls it, OKCupid for the unemployed.

[bigvalboy]

I have received a series of "invitations" to join something called LinkedIn. They supposedly come from a neighbor whom I haven't spoken to in years. I responded that i wasn't interested, but that was a waste of time because they remind me that I haven't responded. The reminders come with a dreary picture of the neighbor looking helpless that I haven't joined.

 

So, I wrote him and asked him why he gave my email to them. He responded that he didn't, and washed his hands of it. well, they didn't get my email address from me. It's the one I use for personal relationships and must have thought at one time that he was included in that.

 

I have no idea what LinkedIn is or why I would want to participate. Any help here? I have found that if you block an email address, they just come at you from another one, so I haven't blocked them. (A country club in Dallas insists that I am a member and keeps inviting me to functions, with all the invites coming from different addresses.)

 

LOL.... I hate to laugh, but I thought I was alone on this one. I too get periodic emails to join. They actually got my email from a neighbor who had started a new business and was trying to develop a circle of contacts. He asked me to join, and in a moment of weakness I agreed. He has since moved away, and I really have no interest in continuing, however their emails aren't really enough for me to consider them bothersome, or for me to try and have my contact information removed from their system. When they do appear, I just delete them without looking, and go on with my day.

 

I will however next time, just out of curiosity, open the email and see if it is possible to 'unsubscribe'....judging by what you are saying here, I might be in for a little challenge.

 

[+ FreshFluff]

LOL.... I hate to laugh, but I thought I was alone on this one. I too get periodic emails to join. They actually got my email from a neighbor who had started a new business and was trying to develop a circle of contacts. He asked me to join, and in a moment of weakness I agreed. He has since moved away, and I really have no interest in continuing, however their emails aren't really enough for me to consider them bothersome, or for me to try and have my contact information removed from their system. When they do appear, I just delete them without looking, and go on with my day.

 

I will however next time, just out of curiosity, open the email and see if it is possible to 'unsubscribe'....judging by what you are saying here, I might be in for a little challenge.

 

 

If you have Gmail or some other web-based system, just hit the spam button. If you ever decide you want to get emails from them again again, you can always go to the spam folder and move them back into your inbox

[bigvalboy]

If you have Gmail or some other web-based system, just hit the spam button. If you ever decide you want to get emails from them again again, you can always go to the spam folder and move them back into your inbox

 

Thanks FF for the information. As a matter of fact, it is coming through my Gmail account. I will do that next time. Very simple!

[+ deej]

Or, as my friend calls it, OKCupid for the unemployed.

 

More like Grindr for the unemployed. It's like a bathhouse where nobody actually gets any.

 

Linkedin goes through periods of dormancy and then they'll wake up and have an orgy of activity where they raid members' address books (sometimes with permission) and spam everyone. They recently went through a spate of "endorsements". I was endorsed by people I haven't seen in 15 years for skills I've never had and don't want. None of those endorsements were actually launched by the person LinkedIn blamed them on.

 

Some people I know swear LinkedIn is useful. I haven't seen it, but I've also been ignoring it for years.

[Nvr2Thick]

Depending on your profession LinkedIn may or may not be useful. Your neighbor most likely selected the option that lets LinkedIn harvest his address book. The process will identify any of his contacts already on LinkedIn and invite them to be his contacts (the equivalent of FB friends). Contacts' e-mail addresses that don't match a LinkedIn profile will be sent an invitation to join. When you reject the invitation it should not repeat. If your neighbor doesn't have a good understanding of how this stuff works he's probably clicking this "find contacts" link repeatedly.

[instudiocity]

Everytime someone joins LinkedIn, they give the website permission to broadcast email their address book. There's an unsubscribe link at the end of the email that tells you SomeOldSoAndSo has joined and so should you. Just click the UNSUBSCRIBE link at the end of the email and that particular person's 'permission' to pester you will end.

 

It's really interesting to me that Linkedin and Buy.com and some other big name websites think they have my permission to bother me just because I gave a personal friend my email address to correspond with me. Oh and get this, the last one was from a friend who insists on emailing me a gmail.com, so I've set up a forward to my active account - not gmail - for just his emails.... linkedin is emailing both accounts now.

[Frankly Rich]

Thanks for the advice and info. I'll try to "unsubscribe" to something I never subscribed to!

[adriano46]

Another side of it for those of us who are "clients" and use another name and/or e-mail to contact an escort - somehow LinkedIn is able to uncover one's multiple e-mail addresses (using IPP info tech??? I have no idea how) and all of a sudden I was getting the names (the REAL names and REAL jobs) of escorts. I am decent enough to have erased those contacts and would never follow this one up - but wonder how many of them got mine???

 

I am NOT a fan of LinkedIn and never have been - a real nuisance.

[Nvr2Thick]

Everytime someone joins LinkedIn, they give the website permission to broadcast email their address book.

 

That's not entirely true. Every time someone joins LinkedIn, he or she can initiate a process to broadcast the entire address book. It doesn't happen as a direct result of joining. The LinkedIn member has to choose to do so. One of the problems is that as a LinkedIn member surfs the site it will often lead you to that option and suggest that its a good idea. Some people never take the option while others do it over and over.

[Bosguy]

I, unfortunately, accepted the invitation because I was referred by a very close friend. When I realized the fact that it was useless for me, I tried to unsubscribe. I can't remember how finally accomplished it, but it took a long time and a lot of effort. STAY AWAY. There are plenty of other options out there.

 

Boston Bill

[Boink]

At the urging of a friend, I joined LinkedIn ages ago - maybe in its infancy. I must say it hasn't been all that bothersome - I only get periodic emails that are relative to my profession and circle of acquaintances. As a result of it, I decided to steer clear of Facebook and I'm glad I never signed up for that.

[+ Chris Eisenhower]

I responded that i wasn't interested, but that was a waste of time because they remind me that I haven't responded. The reminders come with a dreary picture of the neighbor looking helpless that I haven't joined.

 

LinkedIn is one of those things that gets spoofed and used as part of a phishing scam quite often. It may appear to be LinkedIn, but I got one the other day from a record producer in Atlanta and some other high-level executive somewhere else far away.

 

That said, the comment about the dreary picture of the helpless looking neighbor has made me laugh for two days.

[+ Charlie]

I got an invitation to join LinkedIn a few years ago from a former professional colleague who is also a member here, so I joined. But I never found any use for it. When I got tired of their emails, I did manage to unsubscribe fairly easily. When new invitations to join came in the mail, I ignored them. Then I got another invitation from the same person who originally invited me! When I contacted him to tell him why I had unsubscribed, he said he knew nothing about the new invitation, and hardly ever used LinkedIn himself. I still get occasional "invitations" from other people whose email address books I know I am in, but with whom I have very little email contact. I just delete them without reading.

[instudiocity]

That's not entirely true. Every time someone joins LinkedIn, he or she can initiate a process to broadcast the entire address book. It doesn't happen as a direct result of joining. The LinkedIn member has to choose to do so. One of the problems is that as a LinkedIn member surfs the site it will often lead you to that option and suggest that its a good idea. Some people never take the option while others do it over and over.

I'd believe you but the last LinkedIn invite I got was from the Top IT guy at a major bank. He says he never shared his address book - even though he saw the option multiple times. He's speculating that someone else whom we both know and invited us to join was matched in their system. When he joined from the third person's invite, LinkedIn re-invited me using the his, the newest member's name after I'd unsubscribed from the invite of that third person. It's pernicious, once the email account is in a system, it's going to get solicited again and again and again.

 

Calling a LinkedIn invite email SPAM at gmail.com doesn't work. Google has verified LinkedIn's email addresses as legit.

[bigvalboy]

I'd believe you but the last LinkedIn invite I got was from the Top IT guy at a major bank. He says he never shared his address book - even though he saw the option multiple times. He's speculating that someone else whom we both know and invited us to join was matched in their system. When he joined from the third person's invite, LinkedIn re-invited me using the his, the newest member's name after I'd unsubscribed from the invite of that third person. It's pernicious, once the email account is in a system, it's going to get solicited again and again and again.

 

Calling a LinkedIn invite email SPAM at gmail.com doesn't work. Google has verified LinkedIn's email addresses as legit.

Interesting, because FF suggested that last night. I don't get those emails all that often, and it now sounds like something that I might have to just live with.

[whipped guy]

I joined LinkedIn based on a request from a professional colleague a few years ago. I found it completely worthless and was getting silly solicitations from all sorts of individuals with whom I had no interest in connecting. I managed to remove my name and email and have never heard a word from them since... thank the gods... and it has been at the very least a couple of years if not longer.

[+ FreshFluff]

Calling a LinkedIn invite email SPAM at gmail.com doesn't work. Google has verified LinkedIn's email addresses as legit.

 

In terms of putting emails from LinkedIn into YOUR spam folder, it should work. Gmail allows the definition of "spam" to be specific to a user. So if a user hits "spam", especially on multiple emails from an address, messages from that address will go into that user's spam folder. I have yet to see an exception to this, though it might well happen.

 

The "unverified" vs. verified distinction only affects how Gmail treats emails from that address for all users.

 

I would click "spam" on all current LinkedIn emails you have and see what happens. Please let us know what happens.

[whipped guy]

Regarding spam folders etc, I would want things to STOP completely. The less people know the better. Somehow I did it and as I recall I had to unsubscribe. While an effort, it certainly was worth the effort.

[EXPAT]

LinkedIn is a very useful tool. But just like anything else, you have to know how to use it. Most people don't take the time and effort to understand how to use it effectively. For business networking and job hunting, it is by far the best resource. In terms of networking there are many business groups that you can also join that provide you with all kinds of appropriate links and good contacts. So in the business world it is a must, but you must learn how to manage it including not randomly putting your email in a dialog box when they ask because they want it to access your address book. But it does say that clearly but I know many people who didn't take the time to read the two sentences below the dialog box.

[instudiocity]

In terms of putting emails from LinkedIn into YOUR spam folder, it should work. Gmail allows the definition of "spam" to be specific to a user. So if a user hits "spam", especially on multiple emails from an address, messages from that address will go into that user's spam folder. I have yet to see an exception to this, though it might well happen.

 

The "unverified" vs. verified distinction only affects how Gmail treats emails from that address for all users.

 

I would click "spam" on all current LinkedIn emails you have and see what happens. Please let us know what happens.

You wanna straighten out Gmail for me, then?

[instudiocity]

Regarding spam folders etc, I would want things to STOP completely. The less people know the better. Somehow I did it and as I recall I had to unsubscribe. While an effort, it certainly was worth the effort.

+1

[+ FreshFluff]

You wanna straighten out Gmail for me, then?

 

Didn't mean to sound contrary. I tried this with another verified email address (some retailer) a few months ago, when unsubscribing didn't work, and it worked fine. Maybe LinkedIn found a way around the spam filter.

 

BTW, if you can unsubscribe easily, I agree that it's worth the effort.

[whipped guy]

Interestingly, I received a request to join from a friend today!!! It came directly from LinkedIn and asked me to confirm that I know him. It also has a unsubscribe link. Right now I am totally ignoring it. Just when I thought I was out of the woods!!! I will contact my friend directly with a thanks but no thanks email.