File this in the “not a big issue, yet it drives me crazy” file. When someone asks a question on LinkedIn, and it has been answered appropriately, why do others repeat the same answer?
For example look at a recent question and answers:
Question: How do you delete emails and invitations after answering them?
Answer 1: Per LinkedIn “[d]eleting an item from your ‘Inbox’ is not an available function. However messages can be removed from view by clicking on the ‘Archive’ button listed below the message.” Hope that helps.
Answer 2: Deletion isn’t a feature on LinkedIn, you can archive them. Best regards,
Clearly the first answer addressed the issue about as good as it could be. The second answer provided 0% of value. I understand the purpose of answering questions and why each person should spend time doing so, but c’mon.
The primary reason to answer a question should be to share knowledge. Nearly as important is that it generates a link back to your profile and it helps credibility if your answer is picked as the “Top Answer”. I’m all in favor of people answering questions…if they provide value.
While we’re on the subject, the top “Expert” this week in Answers answered 179 questions. How do you answer 179 questions with relevant information and still stay in business or employed. When I answer a question it’s likely to be a couple of sentences at a minimum and maybe a couple of paragraphs if it’s an indepth question. I might spend 5 minutes doing so on the average question.
179 * 5 minutes is 895 minutes or 14.9 hours. Unless you work for LinkedIn, I would be wary of working with someone in any field whose week allowed them to spend 15 hours answering LinkedIn questions. Couldn’t at least half of those hours be spent learning more about your supposed field of expertise.
And if you’re answering this many questions how much value are you really providing? One sentence answers rarely provide value.
How about you? Does this drive you crazy of do you have any other LinkedIn pet peeves?
