10 years of LinkedIn...what I've learned

Ten years ago when I created my profile on this "professional networking" website Steve Jobs was introducing the first iPhone and LinkedIn was still a bit of a social media startup with about 7 million users. There have since been over 1 billion iPhones sold and 460 million more people have joined LinkedIn. I don't write posts very often but I thought I would reflect on five things I learned about LinkedIn while sprinkling in a few tips.

1. Online rolodex with the power of 3 degrees of separation

LinkedIn continues to be my online Rolodex. As people move from company to company it becomes less critical to know their email. In the last few years, LinkedIn has pushed harder with its messaging feature as well to include mobile integration. I am currently preparing for the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) national conference and I can search my connections and quickly see that 23 are currently in the Columbus, OH area...very powerful feature.

I also leverage LinkedIn to help my fellow Air Force officers when they transition by providing them introductions to firms and people whom I have connected with over the years. This is the primary advantage of having a larger network. I generally connect with people in the same industry, school or location. This quickly expands the 2nd and 3rd degree connections just like the 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon.

2. Groups value and human nature to lurk

The LinkedIn Groups feature is also valuable when you have the time. If you have a professional subject, cause or alumni organization there is likely a group for it. When I first started LinkedIn I noticed that SAME did not have a group so I created one. My vision at the time was for the 25,000 society members to have a forum to collaborate and share ideas to further the overall mission. I am very proud that the group has grown to over 10,500 members but that leads to my second point about lurking. It is human nature for people to lurk and read something when they have time. It is a big ask for them to post or comment (especially engineers).

My second experience was with a group that I created called, "The 2% Club." It was an attempt to leverage LinkedIn to create a hive mind of interested individuals crossing industries and locations but sharing a similar passion to get things done. What I learned is that these professionals were focused on getting things done rather than spending time on the internet talking about it. The group is still alive for posterity's sake but I am sure other LinkedIn groups are fairly dormant as well.

3. Rise of monetization elements

LinkedIn went public in May 2011 and it is no coincidence that a business model change followed. While I am definitely not a LinkedIn power user, I did see a fair amount of features go behind the premium subscription paywalls. I am particularly proud of not paying a dime in these 10 years, but I know they have sold my information to every recruiter leading to point 4...

4. More recruiters wanting to connect

In the beginning, LinkedIn was intended to connect with people that you know or those you might have gone to school with. Now due to the monetization features, recruiters are allowed to invite me to connect every week. It is a battle like fighting spam in your inbox but keep clicking "I don't know this person". It is the only way to discourage that behavior.

5. Low quality "Facebook-like" content

Speaking of fighting spam, my LinkedIn home feed algorithm has also gone downhill as more people join the site. Political posts, solve if you are a genius, and plenty of other non-business related topics have crept in and outweighed relevant updates like job changes and work anniversaries. It just takes a moment but if you click the 3 dots on the right side of the post there is an option to 'Report this post'. Maybe it is the placebo effect but I feel a little bit better when I report them.

Bottom Line

Overall I have to say the benefits of LinkedIn over the last 10 years have far outweighed the shortcomings. Thank you for all the connections and friendships that this site has facilitated. I would not have met many of you without LinkedIn and even more likely would have lost touch with some. I can't wait to see what the next 10 years will bring but I have a pretty good feeling that face to face networking is here to stay.