Endorsements vs Recommendations on LinkedIn

Recently my colleague wrote an intriguing post about the (relatively) new LinkedIn feature they call Endorsements.  This feature is different to the valuable feature they have had for a long time, called Recommendations.

The Recommendation feature requires that someone else provides a testimonial for you that you can approve and allow it to be posted onto your profile.

The Endorsement feature allows other people to automatically Endorse you across an extensive set of experience or capabilities, regardless whether they have a truly good understanding of whether your skills deserve such endorsement.  I have seen people being endorsed for experience and capabilities that the endorser has no direct or first hand knowledge about.  And this is just totally wrong.

Now, this is no fault of the endorser who probably just feels that they are helping.  So, please, let’s stop this madness! Growing a business takes much more than cheap endorsements.

Endorsing people flippantly in this manner simply devalues the endorsement and the entire feature has been undermined and should be removed by LinkedIn.  This is one example of a feature that has been designed as a cool idea but has no real value because of the manner in which it has been implemented, both by LinkedIn and by people wishing to do good without thinking it through.

Read the full blog post by Bonni Titgemeyer.

Now, I realize that many people will do just about anything to generate business growth, however this type of approach represents the bad side of social media and we as a culture should reject this out of hand.  Self-policing is becoming necessary since the social media themselves (this is a case in point) don’t appear to get it.  This is the kind of situation that gives ammunition to writers and commentators to have a full go at the legitimacy of social media itself, and this will be the topic of my next blog post, where I will provide a perspective of a recent book written by B.J. Mendelson called “Social Media is Bullshit”.  Whether you agree or disagree, it’s an interesting perspective and well worth the wait.

Neville Pokroy consults in the areas of strategic marketing planning, as well as in the development and execution of marketing strategies and plans. He assists companies who require marketing expertise to plan and fully execute marketing programs.   He helps them make good strategic marketing choices.  If you want to have more choice in business growth strategy, marketing your business, setting yourself apart, and increasing the odds of generating additional revenue for your business, call (905)886-2235, email: neville@mastermindsolutions.ca or visit our website.  Please follow me on Twitter: @smaaketer