Is this “friend”-harvesting autobollocks or a genuine request ?
(I don’t think I’m on linkedin, unless that’s also happened automatically)

Leave it a few weeks and they’ll send you a reminder to say they’re waiting on your response

Leave it 6 months before you receive a “right, **** you then you tosser” LinkedIn update mail. 😆

People share their address book with linked in by mistake and everyone they’ve ever emailed gets an invite…

Probably the former. Despite being broadly inactive beyond “having a presence” on LI, I get many requests. Much as I’d like to think that it’s down to my winning personality, wealth of experience and rugged good looks, I think it’s mainly recruitment parasites agencies and spambots. I suspect my real name is generating false positive hits when they search for company high-ups as well.

In unrelated news, has anyone else started getting unsolicited friend requests on Facebook from attractive young women in their local area, or is that just me being a studmuffin as well?

Ya, get that all the time so asked friends if they emailed they said no so my conclusion is bots are doing the emailing … 😮

LinkedIn, Facebook for people who want to be considered “professional” (whatever that term really means.

Joining interest groups to show how well versed and up to speed you are…….

God forbid.

It has this option to scan your email* and then spam everyone you’ve ever had email contact with.

* only if you’re stupid enough to give it your email account password….

I’m on LinkedIn and use my personal email, but regularly get invites to my work email which has no account attached. These come from trawling the person who has sent the invites inbox I think, it asks if you want to do this all the time, still waiting for subs at aingletrack to link up 🙂

LinkedIn, Facebook for people who want to be considered “professional” (whatever that term really means.

I think it’s what self-aggrandizing pretentious shitwits refer to as “networking.” I’m a techie, networking for me generally involves a CAT5 cable.

I once went on a Microsoft tech briefing with two tracks, a “sales” and a “technical” track. It amused me no end that during the breaks the first track were all in suits trying to schmooze with as many people as possible, and the second were all in jeans and t-shirts trying desperately to find unoccupied corners in order to drink coffee and check their emails.

Spot on

I don’t think you can get a legit linked in request without being on.

I have got shed loads of these in my hotmail junk folder. I am a linked in user but none of these ones in my junk mail are real.

I don’t think you can get a legit linked in request without being on.

It’s from (apparently anyway) someone I work with.

Does that mean I’m on there ? 🙁

You get an option to send people/non-members in your inbox invites to join linked in.

Pretty unprofessional of anyone to click the button saying yes…..

Ghostly, I didn’t know that.

OP, just to be clear the hotmail junk I get isn’t showing in the linked in invites list. This is of course just normal spam, phishing stuff.

So it’s either what ghostly says or you’re being spammed.

You could try lost my password option on linked in with the email you got the invite to.

Or just Google your name and employer. Your linked in profile if you have one would typically be one of the first things to come up.

Or just Google your name and employer. Your linked in profile if you have one would typically be one of the first things to come up.

No hit – Schweeeet ! 8)

I don’t think you can get a legit linked in request without being on

You can – I’m not on, and I received one recently from a colleague, and he confirmed that it was from him, although he hadn’t deliberately sent it – he didn’t explain further but I think (as above) LinkedIn had sent it to everyone in his contacts (although if he’s shared his work email password with them, he’s in trouble)

I’m on linked in I chose to be but I have no idea why or what to do now. I have a load of contacts I work with if I need to interact I ring email or go for a drink with them. What am I supposed to do on the site ?

I used it a few years ago for a bit of networking. Got 5 or 6 interviews and one direct offer in a month.
Didn’t end up taking them up, things here changed for the better.

Have also had a few friends and friends of friends contacting me regarding opportunities here. More than one of them is now gainfully employed.

If you aren’t looking for a job, or aren’t in a position where anyone would contact you for a job (or information about who to speak to about one) it’s all a bit pointless.

Wish you could sort of switch it off/hide it when you weren’t looking.

What am I supposed to do on the site ?

Depends why you’re there to begin with. For me it’s a way of keeping my profile high with people who might want to employ me. My last job came directly from a LinkedIn contact. So in my case I post stuff, comment on stuff, seek recommendations etc. I’m not going to argue hard however that I think it particularly worthwhile 🙂

I have a Linked In profile and I have now started receiving requests to my work email, which I have not provided Linked In with. Clicking on the ‘unsubscribe’ link gives this text:

You received this email because a LinkedIn member invited you to join. LinkedIn uses email addresses uploaded by members to make suggestions in features like People You May Know. By unsubscribing below, you’ll stop receiving LinkedIn invitations and your email [phone number] will stop being processed by LinkedIn. (That means we won’t use your info for any reason, including making suggestions to members).

The conclusion I take from this is that someone who has my work email address has allowed Linked In to have access to their email address book.

I subscribe to the Groucho Marx maxim ” I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member” it’s worked for me so far.

I took myself off Linkedin for 6 months best decision ever. Unfortunately, there is a downside you fall off the radar which if you are not really looking for a new job is great. If you are it seems to be a necessary evil these days.

You can minimize the amount of communications you receive by un subscribing from their various email lists etc

Cougar – Moderator

LinkedIn, Facebook for people who want to be considered “professional” (whatever that term really means.

I think it’s what self-aggrandizing pretentious shitwits refer to as “networking.” I’m a techie, networking for me generally involves a CAT5 cable.

I once went on a Microsoft tech briefing with two tracks, a “sales” and a “technical” track. It amused me no end that during the breaks the first track were all in suits trying to schmooze with as many people as possible, and the second were all in jeans and t-shirts trying desperately to find unoccupied corners in order to drink coffee and check their emails.

Yep pretty much, it’s the least fun place on the web, a place devoid of joy or happiness, replaced by management speak and the worst kinds of ‘the apprentice’ 110% bullshit. It makes my skin crawl, but it’s a necessary evil for me.

I would have been on the other track to you – it can be a sleazy unpleasant place to be. In fairness most (only most mind you) of them are actually real people with fun hobbies, funny stories and decent characters once your break down the pretense – but the young ones especially think you need to put on ‘the act’ to be taken seriously – ironically the opposite is true, but if you want to keep the guys in Jeans and T-Shirts busy and well, paid you need to talk to people and get to know them.

Nothing sucks the light out of my life like a LinkedIn request at the weekend or evening, I have to have it linked to my personal e-mail and not my work one as it’s for me, not my employer, but I picture this sad case sat alone in his flat ‘networking’ when he should be living his life (they’re always male) but I invariably accept them when I get back to the office, the bigger the profile, the bigger the audience – stick your skills up and you find people you can work with – I’ve even found a bit of moonlighting work from it – £200 to spend half your lunch break on the phone telling someone your former employers dirty secrets or £100 to spend 15 mins using someone’s software whilst some techies monitor where you click. It’s not steady work, but there are people on LI every single day looking for people with experience in this or that who’ll pay to pick you brain for a bit.

pistonbroke – Member
I subscribe to the Groucho Marx maxim ” I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member” it’s worked for me so far.

And yet you post on here! 😀

I deleted my LinkedIn account last year but still got large amounts of spam emails from them.

I spoke with @LinkedInHelp on twitter and they added my work and personal email addresses to their “do not contact” list and I’ve been in blissful peace ever since. It’s wonderful.

Rachel (a freelance web professional who realised that absolutely no benefit ever came from being on LinkedIn, just distraction…)

I’ve never had a LinkedIn account but I still get invitations.

there are people on LI every single day looking for people with experience in this or that

Agreed. I’ve had some really good approaches from potential employers on LinkedIn

it can be very useful for finding people in your industry, keeping in touch with ex-colleagues, finding jobs and candidates, and for getting perspectives on things from different user groups.
as with everything in life there are down sides and it can get hijacked for those looking for commercial gain; it’s not for everyone.
in fact, for those who find face-to-face networking difficult (and I include myself in that to some extent) it can provide a forum where networking is a lot easier and gives the “techie nerds” a voice alongside the “self-aggrandizing pretentious shitwits”