Why I, Too, Killed My LinkedIn Account

10 thoughts on “Why I, Too, Killed My LinkedIn Account”

  1. The TOS is pretty boilerplate terms. It isn’t that LI want to steal your data. It’s that they are required to get certain permissions to store/transfer/display data.

    LinkedIn offer a “Plain English” TOS.

    https://www.linkedin.com/legal/user-agreement

    What is really killing LI is LION members. It defeats the purpose of what LI is. It’s my guess LI knows this and it’s why they add it to the TOS not to do this.

    1. Hi Simon, thanks a lot for the feedback comments and for adding further up into the conversation. Apologies I only noticed now that your comment, along with a bunch of others, were trapped in the spam folder :-(( Brought them all back now. Appreciate the patience and my apologies to everyone.

      Right, about your comment, I think I know what you mean about LI having to go that way, but then again I still think it is a bit draconian, not only on the form and shape of the ToS, but on not been willing to contemplate the opportunity to adjust accordingly. For instance, as an example, and from the link you shared above on “Plain English” ToS, check out the section of “Don’t undertake the following:” and see this particular item:

      – Invite people you do not know to join your network;

      Or this other one:

      – Share information of non- Members without their express consent;

      as a couple of examples and you would notice, and there are just a couple of examples, how vast majority of people are in constant violation of LI’s ToS. Just like that. Now, I can understand how this may not bother most people, but it *does* bother me, because I don’t feel comfortable, as a customer, use a service for which I’d be constantly infringing their ToS, knowingly or unknowingly and since I suspect LI is not going to change their ToS soon, I decided it’s my choice to eventually decide whether to stick around or not, and in this case, I won’t.

      At least, till they change them, if ever.

  2. Only half of that makes any sense. Removing your data make sense if you don’t agree with TOS but losing your network identity actually doesn’t

    1. Very true, Chris! Thanks much for adding further up into the conversation. The thing with me though is that I haven’t lost my network identity since the vast majority of contacts I had in LI are elsewhere already. In fact, I have deleted the profile over a week ago and no-one seems to have noticed it or call it up to my attention as to where I went. So I eventually confirmed as well what happened with me in FB over 4 years ago. Networks are not bound, nor restricted, by social networking tools. They are porous enough to port themselves wherever they may well “need to go”.

      I know LI allows you to export your networks in multiple formats, which I did, in case folks would want to keep in touch from the “outside”, but so far no-one has come forward and doubt they would, because they are already living elsewhere 🙂

  3. It frustrates me no end when organisations discuss a social media policy and 3 brands dominate the conversation. (FB, LI and Twitter)no can idenitfy valuable business need to access these and no social mendia policy can get up…. ‘Social Media’ is more than 3 brands it is using differenet mediums to communicate. Organisations need understand what your needs are, identify the requirements then research and find a product that suits that requirement.

    1. Hi John, thanks a lot for dropping by and for the great feedback comments. Greatly appreciated! You are not the only one who gets irritated by that notion that unless you have got a presence in all three major social networking tools you have got nothing. It’s a very silly and poor conversation, specially, when, except perhaps for FB, the other two are not even having a marginal cut at the overall social presence in the world out there, if you look into their penetration compared to other social networking tools. Yet, all three seem to be the media darlings and as such have generated that flair around them which is no longer even realistic.

      Case in point, I deleted y FB over 4 years ago. I deleted my LI profile over a couple of weeks ago and here I am, still alive and kicking and with a rather healthy social presence, imo. There is a way to define our very own specific social strategies and I certainly concur with you that most of the times it’s way way more effective acting around the edges, vs. right at the front! 🙂

      Perhaps that’s also part of our jobs. To show and demonstrate those organisations that based on their needs & wants they would be better making a decision that would best meet their needs vs. just going with the flow, which it may work, or not.

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