Is Your LinkedIn Account About to be Suspended?
There are some happenings that many LinkedIn members should be aware of. It appears that after years of allowing violations of it’s “user agreement” LinkedIn is starting to take action.
Over the last couple of weeks I have seen cases where members have had their accounts suspended for violations that had been previously overlooked. Just yesterday I spoke with someone who had a client whose account was suspended for including their email after their name. There was no warning just an email from LinkedIn advising them that their account had been suspended and to contact customer service to discuss.
Personally I don’t see where this impacts anyone else or infringes upon their use of the site so I don’t agree with LinkedIn’s action. From a business perspective, though, LinkedIn built the network and has the right to dictate the terms.
LinkedIn is in business to earn profits and one of the ways that they do so is by selling premium accounts which provide members the ability to contact a number of people not in their network directly through the use of InMails. They also sell these for $10 a pop. Providing an email allows some people to avoid using InMails to grow their network.
LinkedIn also states that members should only connect to those they know. Another point where I disagree. When I go to a chamber networking event they don’t tell me to only talk to people I know. I’m there to meet people I don’t know. My perspective is that LinkedIn is simply an electronic version of the chamber, so a large part of the value is connecting to others I don’t know. This allows me to expand my network and develop opportunities that were previously out of reach.
There are several notices in the list of Dont’s in the user agreement that are relevant to today’s discussion:
1. Include information in your profile or in Status Updates which reveals your identity such as an email address, phone number or address or is confidential in nature;
2. Invite people with whom you have no prior relationship to join your network;
3. Upload a cartoon, symbol, drawing or any content other than a photograph of yourself in your profile photo;
If you look at enough profiles you will see profiles that include an email address along with the person’s name. Traditionally this was done by LION’s to facilitate connecting with others. You can argue the merits of open verses closed networking, but for Open networkers this has been a great help to building their networks.
I have only stumbled on the phone number a couple of times and have not seen anyone listing their address. If you currently have your email included in your name field you may want to rethink that choice.
The second point, as noted above, is one I disagree with. When I changed my networking strategy from a Hound Dog to more of a LION (not an official LION but more open in who I connect to) I noticed that the number of my unexpected opportunities increased. (expected and unexpected opportunities are discussed in my post -Ed Jones Had Me at Hello)
I think at some point the majority of people have connected to at least one person they did not know.
The third point I actually agree with LinkedIn. As a business networking site that focuses on people connecting to people anything other than a personal head shot or photo doesn’t make sense. The proper thing to do is to create a companies page if you want to promote your company. If you want to promote a product or service use your profile to include keywords and applications to highlight either.
You’ll notice more people willing to connect and interact if they know who you are. When I see a profile that is a business name or a product all it says to me is this is a person that doesn’t understand social networking. This person isn’t interested in developing relationships but simply participating to sell a product.
I’m up front stating that I am on LinkedIn to grow my business and make money. But I also understand that the first step to doing so is providing value to others with no expectations. Over time this apporach will allow others to get to know you, start to like you, and eventually trust you.
The end result is that what has previously been allowed may now result in your account being suspended. The points above have always been violations of LinkedIn’s “user agreement” only now action is actually being taken.
**To read previous posts (18 months worth) go to the main blog page at http://www.socialmediasonar.com.
Tags: advertise in alpharetta, advertise in atlanta, advertise in johns creek, how to use linkedin, LinkedIn, linkedin blog, sean nelson, Social Media
June 23rd, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Great blog! I think another problem for your 2nd example of “Don’ts” is that when you’re invited to connect, the only choices are Accept, I don’t know this user, or Archive. I think that language is misleading because some users will select “I don’t know this user” instead of “Archive” if they’ve met but simply prefer not to connect. I don’t think the Archive choice is used often enough or properly enough. With only 5 strikes, it gets members into trouble with the site more often than it should.
June 23rd, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Very helpful information! Thank you for sharing and help us to avoid “suspension jail”.
June 23rd, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Arthur,
Great Point. I think that many people select the IDK option because they simply do not know or recognize the person. I would like to see LI add a second window that explains that choosing this option may have a negative impact and ask the person to reconfirm their choice.
There is rarely a valid purpose for choosing that option given the negative implications. If you don’t want to connect Archive it and move on.
Sean
June 23rd, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Rhonda,
Its my pleasure. Great to see you at last weeks networking event.
Sean
June 23rd, 2009 at 3:32 pm
I first joined LinkedIn in March. After being chastised for sending invitations to people I didn’t know, I started sending messages to people with whom I share groups, stating:
Hi, ________. I’m a member of the__________________ group as well, and would like to add you to my LinkedIn network, but didn’t want to be presumptuous, since we’re not yet acquainted. If you would rather not, that’s fine, but if you wouldn’t mind allowing me to add you as a connection, please either respond to this message and let me know that I can send you an invitation, or just add me to your network. I appreciate your time, and look forward to getting to know you.
I have found that the vast majority allows me to send them an invitation, and some will send me one. I have also had several replies saying that they appreciated my introducing myself before sending an invitation. Best of all, even if they decline, they don’t have the option of hitting the “I don’t know this person” button. As I am a member of 50 groups, most of which are geared to my target audience, many of the people with whom I want to connect share a group with me already.
June 23rd, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Thomas,
Great idea and thanks for sharing. Groups are a great way to build connections. Your method while it may take a little longer solves the IDK problem.
June 23rd, 2009 at 4:50 pm
I do not use LinkedIn near as much as I used to, mainly because of these reasons. They just may start to lose their audience altogether. There are certainly enough other social sites out there to benefit from if they want to be so strict with their agreement. The profile picture I agree with. If people want that type of profile they should use one of the other sites that gears towards that type of publicity. I have experienced most LI users to be very rigid about trying to connect if you do not know them
June 23rd, 2009 at 4:51 pm
I joined to connect with people to gain and share information outside of my community. It has been a great way to enhance my knowledge base. I am not growing a business, so I have joined groups then connected with people I “know” from these. Is that a don’t?
June 23rd, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Sharon,
The restrictions on LinkedIn can appear to be cumbersome at times but they do offer a great value to their users. While I tend to disagree with them at times, in the end I agree with 99% of what they do. No other social networking site delivers up the membership of business professionals in a business format. I wouldn’t step away from it, rather I would work at finding a way to make it work for you.
Sean
June 23rd, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Heather,
That’s a “DO”. Groups are a great way to build your network. Plus you have something in common.
Sean
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Thanks for the information, Sean. I don’t always take the time to read every word in the agreements page, and I missed those bits of information. Good to know! Julia
June 24th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
As always Sean I enjoy reading your posts! Thank-you!
I do have a question that I have been trying to get some answers on. Why do we have to keep all that back email on file taking up precious server space on LinkedIn? I am a manager of one of the groups on LinkedIn and get many requests for membership. This is mixed in with important contact info that I have archived. They need to find a better way to organize the Inbox of LinkedIn as it an absolute nightmare of organizational mishap! Also why can I not delete something if there is no further use for that communication?
LinkedIn has not satisfactorily answered my inquiry on this. Perhaps you have more information on this?
Thanks much Sean!
Laney
June 24th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Sean – thank you for this very helpful information. I’m a relatively new member of LinkedIn and still learning the do’s, don’ts and why’s of each.
This is helpful also in validating the very value of LinkedIn. I get frustrated when people I know say they have no interest in joining LinkedIn because of lack of time, not wanting to be found, or confusing the nature of the content with sites like Facebook that are not for professional networking.
Question for Thomas Little: great suggestion on your pre-invitation message, but how do you send this if you don’t have an email address for the person? I’m sorry if this is a dense question, but I’m trying to learn from this suggestion.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Melanie,
I’ll step in and answer for Thomas. When you belong to a group you can contact the other members of the group directly, unless they have their setting set to not receive any messages from fellow group members.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Laney,
I’m with you. The LinkedIn messaging system is not very useful. There should be the option to add folders to view messages later. It’s not a space issue because all messages are kept in the Archive tab.
I think this is something that will eventually be addressed but far back in terms of importance to LinkedIn.
Sean
June 24th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Hello, Sean,
Thank you for informing me I have inadvertently violated the linked-in user policy. Prior to reading this article, I had my e-mail address in my user name. Now that I know that I may get suspended from the site, I have edited my profile to no longer include it. Thank you for saving me what could have turned out to be a headache.
Hello, Melanie,
I know you addressed your question to Thomas Little, but I decided to give you my 2 cents woth in response to your question. I believe if you are in a group with someone depending on the person’s configuration settings, there sometimes is an option to send message. If you choose this option, you are able to send an e-mail message to that person without knowing the exact e-mail address of the person. Do not feel that the question you ask is dense. I think it is an admirable quality in a person to want to learn by asking questions. — I don’t have all the answers, but I have learned that if you ask a question, often times there are many people willing to help you. That’s a great feeling!
To the group:
I have a question of my own to whomever can answer it. When I request to join a group, I sometimes try to also send a message to the group leader explaining why I want to join. At this moment, I have three requests pending acceptance from the leader. It has been several days and I have not received a response. How do I determine if this group is still active, if the leader is on vacation, or if requests are no longer being accepted? Should I withdraw my request and reapply, or just withdraw my request and give up on joining the group for the time being?
Thank you in advance,
Jim Horrell
June 24th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Jim,
Thanks for jumping in with the comments, advice, and questions. 3 for 1.
As to your group question different managers handle approvals differently. In my groups I try to check request several times per day. If someone wants in I want to let them ASAP. Good customer service.
I’ve had requests pending for a couple of weeks that were finally approved and some that I gave up before then. If you’re not maxed out I would let it stay for a while. If you’re close to maxing out I would see if there were better groups to join.
Sean
June 24th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
There are members who regularly spam the eMarketing as well as my other groups with “get rich quick” scams and other off-topic offers. I would like to think that this behavior could be grounds for account suspension as well.
June 24th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Great Blog! I recently added my email address to my name and quickly saw a huge increase in connections also. This is obviously something that I am going to have to watch closely and also I agreed to the terms not to violate the agreement of requesting people I do not know anymore, but still have some requests out there for people I dont know particularly. I uploaded my contact list from my CPU and there were some people on there that I didnt exactly “know”
June 24th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Mark,
I agree. Maybe with the new subgroups there can be a place to allow people to post “opportunities”.
The real control should be at the group level with the group owners and managers. As a group owner of several groups I simply remove the ones I think are inappropriate. It’s a fine line that may not be as big of an issue with a small group but with 100k plus members it can kill a discussion board.
Sean
June 24th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Dane,
My perspective is that you should be able to connect as you please. That’s one of the more effective ways to tap into unexpected opportunities. I would continue to connect as you see fit and you should be fine as long as you avoid the dreaded “IDK”.
Sean
June 24th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Sean,
Thank you for addressing this issue. I firmly agree that the purpose of the group is to network, and to meet new people. As Thomas mentioned, I too, have mentioned joint membership in groups, or the specific names of people who are connted to both the person I am reaching out to, and to me. Most of the time this has helped. I have reached out to people who are members of a live networking group that I belong to, but haven’t met. I had someone respond to me that she did not connect with people she did not know, but would be happy to meet for coffee and get acquainted. (obviously this only works if you live in the same town.) However, I have had some recent rejections, even using the names of mutual contacts, or common groups. I believe mentioning mutual contacts would be helpful because the person could always find out more, or get advice on the invitee. They don’t seem to be asking the contacts for a reference. I even had a few people who know me well hit the IDK button. That really upsets me, and leads me to Arthur’s point. I don’t think a lot of people realize the ramifications of what they are doing. Archiving is a lot better, and a great chance for the recipient to do what mine did, contact me about getting acquainted so you feel more confident to accept the invitation.
To comment on one of Jim’s points: I have a couple of requests to join groups that have been out there for months and never answered. I don’t expect them to be answered. It is frustrating that some of us don’t take this site as seriously as others.
Thanks for a great blog.
Brigid
June 24th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
The odd part is that LinkedIn has added fields in the contact section at the bottom of your profile so you can put in your email address publicly, or even phone number… so I don’t see why they would care as much if your email were listed in the name field also.
June 24th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Brigid,
You can’t force people to be more open in their networking, but in the end they are limiting their own opportunities. I had people request to connect and once I did they asked me to help them with their insurance needs. If I had chosen to not connect I would have missed the opportunity.
Their is a perception that unknown connections devalue your network and I think that is people just repeating something they heard. I wrote about this in my post “The Fallacy of Protecting Your Network“.
I actually invited a person that was in one of my groups and he “IDK’d” me. At first I was ticked and ready to kick out of the group, but the calmer side sent a message explaining to him who I was and that the purpose of the group was to facilitate local connections. all of which was in the invitation, but he did not read it. He did not recognize my name and immediately hit the “IDK” button.
I know that many people do not understand the ramifications of hitting the “IDK” button and it would be a good thing if LinkedIn added a pop up explaining this and ask for a confirmation that they want to continue. some people will still do so but others would change it to Archiving the invitation.
Sean
June 24th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Jacob,
Like I mentioned in my post, it doesn’t affect how other people use LinkedIn so I don’t see it as an issue. From the LinkedIn stand point of connecting to only those you know, it’s done primarily to circumvent that. There is a revenue impact behind the decision.
Sean
June 24th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Dear Sean:
Talking about rules. I have answered numerous tax and legal questions for many members. It is a way to give back so I really do not mind. But, one of the rules is that answers should be rated. There are some members who pose question after question and never rate answers. One in particular in the retirment-pension area had over 30 questions and never took the time to rate any of his questions. I sent something to LinkedIn administrators and I do not thnk anything was done. This type of taking advantage of members is really selfish and against the team spirit of LinkedIn.
Shouldn’t at least a warning be given to these people and/or a general proviso in the Question area warning to people who pose questions to rate answers.
What do think about this?
Keep up your great work
Best regards
Steve
June 24th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Steve,
I agree that failure to rate questions is bad form. If people are kind of enough to share information you should at least be willing to take the extra 10 seconds to chose a best answer or several good answers. This is one of the ways for people to build credibility.
There is no excuse for not doing so. Not sure it’s a suspendable offense but it is one of bad taste.
Sean
June 24th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Sean,
Excellent blog post! I have had no one contact me on this, so I have been completely blind to this happening. Obviously it is scary and it raises serious implications for the open networking movement. I feel that this is more of a stab at “cleaning up” potential fake profiles and spam. Let’s hope it stops with that.
- Neal
June 24th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Neal,
It may be but the person whose account was suspended was a live person. We’ll see.
**If your viewing the comments take a look to the right on the blogroll and click on the LinkedIn Questions blog. Neal writes that one. Another good resource.
June 24th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Bait and switch – Linkedin sends recommendation of people they think I know and encourage me with every device possible short of sending the actual note, then shut me down if some cranky person hits “don’t know” instead of “ignor”.
Instead, they should make a rule that people should not accept invites from people that they don’t know. Then I suppose I could chastise people for accepting my suggestion if they don’t actually know me – just like Linkedin does.
June 24th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Sean
I have almost taken you as my guide as far as dos and donts on Linked In are concerned. i am proud to be the follower of a veteran networker like you.
Cheers
Apurv
June 24th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Sean
After an invitation is sent out on Linked In to another member, is there a way to know whether he/she has IKD ed me or has archived my invitation?
Apurv
June 24th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Maybe I’m cheap but $25/month for another membership is a bit much. They should really test the elasticity of their premium plans – my guess a lower price point would generate much greater premium memberships. just a thought!
June 25th, 2009 at 12:36 am
Click on the contacts link on the left side. On your Contacts page there is a text link to See Invitations. Click on that and sort by status. Then after all of your Accepted invitations and before Pending invitations you will see the IDK if there are any.
June 25th, 2009 at 12:36 am
They need to find more ways to differentiate the plans.
June 25th, 2009 at 10:20 am
Sean, etal,
I am an avid LinkedIn user and have several success stories from utilizing the resource and being a true open networker. The dreaded “IDK” is a fact that most experienced users are keenly aware. One thing I’ve found assists in lessening the chances of receiving one is to definitely personalize the invite. Never use the LI canned provided one. This way you can tell someone where you met them (if appropriate), and the benefit of connecting networks.
RE: email address after name, yes LI doesn’t like it. Easily solved: list it instead in the “Header” field. It shows up prominently and LI doesn’t seem to care what you list in the header.
RE photo: After thinking about it, I did post one. If you attend a number of f2f events, even if you receive business cards, it’s a good reminder when you see someone’s photo.
Happy networking and I look forward to reading more of your blogs, Sean.
June 25th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Sean,
Good information Sean, if you become too restrictive you will start to loose folks as Linkedin was primarily designed as a platform to network with your past colleagues you may have known from previous employers and/or schools etc.
June 25th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Wonderful blog! I appreciate you outlining in detail various viewpoints etc. Withinout this article, we might all be in Linkedin “jail” and not know why….thanks!
June 25th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Great blog. In some respects I am still feeling my way around LI and any suggestions are welcomed. I have wondered about adding unknown persons to your contact list if the intention is to network. What are the major implications of adding unknown persons to the contact list?
June 26th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Thank you for this information, Sean. I am fairly new to social networking and afraid I have been ignoring LinkedIn entirely while learning to use FaceBook. I’m still a little puzzled why I am doing social networking and this blog gives some insights. It’s hard to network when you are restricted, or always needing to purchase something additional. Perhaps there will be a time when social networking software will be available to individual sites such as the Cobb Chamber, so the group can control the rules.
June 27th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Thanks for the article and the blog. I got suspended once, for accidently violating their rules, but with a proper explanation of what I was about, they put my account back on a good footing. I am a paying member of LinkedIn and frankly, the IM’s I pay for are a waste of time and money.
I have made some incredible contacts through LinkedIn and value them highly. I think the new idea of add subgroups to large groups will make it much easier for us to be in a group that is more closely focused on our mutual interests AND will gradually be used by LinkedIn to reduce the number of groups on LI. They have over 300,000 groups – some of which have less than 100 members. That cannot be profitable for them.
If we were all restricted to only connecting with someone we already knew, how would we expand our networks. It’s an oxymoron! I keep facebook for that reason – I only connect on Facebook with people I really know and trust. On LinkedIn, I am a LION – because I can always disconnect from you without you even know I have gone!
@wildlifeaid Special link for everyone on LinkedIn Leave your comments here http://tinyurl.com/o8bc9m
Thanks again.
June 28th, 2009 at 3:21 am
Forgive me if this has been mentioned, but I didn’t see it when I skimmed through all the comments. While LinkedIn has generous free activity it is trying to make money with its upgraded service that would likely provide the more private information that it forbids on the free side.
I used to belong to Classmates, but this and Facebook are much better and I don’t have to pay to hear from people from my past.
June 28th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Great article, awesome comments.
I LOVE LinkedIn despite all the restrictions, which can be annoying at times (esp not being able to send invitation to a person you don’t know.) I have found my own ways to go around these rules (sending invites to group members, personalizing the invites, getting introduced through a person already in your network). From my experience I can state that personalizing your invites helps the most. Mention some things you have in common with the person you want to connect. Offer help, tip, advice, etc. – tell people WHY you want to connect with them and how YOU BOTH can benefit from it.
In general, the value and opportunities LinkedIn gives to its users are greater than all the downsides. So, go by the rules but make LinkedIn work for you and your business!
June 29th, 2009 at 1:51 am
Thanks everyone for the comments. I usually try to respond to each person but its been busy and there have been a lot. Thanks for joining the conversation. Your comments make this a better discussion.
Sean
June 29th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Thanks for this – it is very helpful. There were some “Rules” that I was not even aware of that
I will be mindful of from here on out.
June 29th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Sue,
You pick them up as you move along. I’ve violated some and on others was fortunate to find the info before doing so.
Sean
July 18th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
LinkedIn’s entire valuation is not based on “revenue” because it doesn’t really generate the revenue required to cover it’s costs. The LinkedIn valuation is based on the number of “subscribers” and ie. a valuation of $200 per member on the LinkedIn site (or the cost to acquire that new member) would mean that LinkedIn’s current valuation would be $200/member X 4,000,000 = $8,000,000,000. Yes, it is a very big number considering valuation. Interestingly, however, before this valuation can be effectively done, they have to do a true count: 1. How many people who signed up and never returned. 2. How many people need to be eliminated due to violation of the guidelines which measures exposure and liability for LinkedIn, and finally, a true count percentage of 70% ~ 85% of the total based on growth.
These actions taken according to the posting only leads me to believe in one thing that is about to happen: This means LinkedIn is about to be ACQUIRED. (or going Public)