Is LinkedIn Really Worth Your Time?
October 06, 2011, By Josh Katzowitz 3 comments
A couple times a week, the e-mails inundate my inbox. The subject line reads, “Join my network on LinkedIn” or “LinkedIn Network Updates” or “1 new job on LinkedIn,” and invariably, I’ll sigh, open the message and do whatever is asked. I click yes for a new connection, or I scan what’s happening with the people with whom I’ve already connected.
I’m on the site for less than a minute before I close it out, relieved that my LinkedIn duties are done for the week. Which leads me to this question: Why the hell do I bother?
It’s not like LinkedIn is a terrible waste of time or even that annoying. But, in my mind, I don’t need to build these connections, make these new friends. I already do that on Facebook and on Twitter. And though it seems like my industry of journalism would compel me to keep up with LinkedIn and try to network my way through it, I’ve never gotten the sense that it does. If I need to pitch a story to a national newspaper, I can do that through e-mail. If I need to network and look for more work, I can do that at live sporting events or on the phone.
Even when I was solely a freelance writer and I hungered for those contacts, I barely paid LinkedIn any mind.
A gag on a recent "Daily Show" episode epitomized what LinkedIn is for me. After playing a clip from CEO Jeff Weiner saying, “We connect hundreds of millions of people around the world (to) connect talent with opportunity,” host Jon Stewart said, “Oh, is that what LinkedIn is? I thought it was an email-inbox flooding service whose sole purpose in life was to remind me that the guy I went to a high school with wants me to join LinkedIn and spam everyone I ever met.”
To be fair, the only reason "The Daily Show" played Weiner’s clip in the first place was because President Obama chose a LinkedIn forum to pitch his latest jobs bill. So, I guess you could say that if the president is pimping LinkedIn, perhaps it’s worth investigating whether using the site is really worth your time.
Job Networking
For some industries, it certainly is. Take Marissa Joyce, for instance. She’s the marketing director for a media marketing company in Atlanta, and she uses the website every day. In her industry, it’s imperative.
“There’s such an intense amount of networking,” Joyce said. “People contact me constantly for jobs and recruiters are constantly contacting me. I can’t get over other people I know who don’t use it. Before we hire somebody, we’ve already reviewed their LinkedIn profile. We know who they’re connected to.”
There’s a reason Joyce and her bosses have to be vigilant about LinkedIn. Their world, like many businesses, is based on connections and who you know. Unlike Facebook, nobody on LinkedIn cares about seeing pictures of your kids. Unlike Twitter, they don’t revel in the thought of you eating a tuna melt for lunch. But they are interested in knowing what you can do for them if you decide to work together at some point in the future. And they care about possibly hiring you for a job. And they care about knowing who you know.
“In our business, key people are on this,” Joyce said. “If we’re hiring somebody and they only have five connections, that’s a huge problem for us.”
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