If you are a user of Facebook, Twitter, or “LinkedIn”, you probably have come across aspects of it that annoy or intrigue you. Perhaps it is a “friend” who “tags” you in pictures that you did not want posted on the web, or it is a brand that you “liked” filling up your timeline with promotional messages. We all have our pet peeves when it comes to social media. Shown below are four things on social media that make me stop and think.
Value of endorsements on LinkedIn
Until the launch of “endorsements” LinkedIn did not have anything comparable to Facebook “likes”, Twitter “retweets” or Google “+”. The “recommendation” option available through LinkedIn was cumbersome and required more participation from users than the mere click of a button. Endorsements seem to have caught on among the user community with users actively endorsing their “connections”, often taking the cue from the pop-up suggestions offered by LinkedIn. So, is there any real value to these endorsements?
Would the number of endorsements that a person has, influence your perception of that person’s capabilities?
Separation of church and social
If you are reasonably active on Twitter, you would have had a few followers who openly declare their religion and their love of god on their social media profiles. I believe that religion and faith are private matters and do not need to be part of your profile unless it represents a church, temple, mosque, or synagogue.
In the real world, if I said, “Hi! My name is Dax; I am a Hindu”, I am sure I would make people uncomfortable!
The relevance of social influence scoring
The concept of measuring social influence continues to gain mind share among businesses and individuals. With companies like Klout and Kred growing their own influence in areas like Customer Relationship Management, more and more businesses are expected to adopt social influence scores into their customer service models. Engagements on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn have been the main metrics behind these scores. A user’s ability to “game” these systems remains a loophole. A steady stream of baby pictures posted on Facebook and the associated “likes” you receive from your friends and family would increase your influence score.
While I do not have a lot of faith in these scores, I must admit that I would like to see my influence score steadily creep up!
Twitter followers who communicate with me in a language that I don’t understand
I would put this one into a category called “What were you thinking?” I understand that people around the world communicate in different languages. It stands to reason that their profiles and interactions would use a language different from English. However, it beats me that some of these users would “follow” me and communicate with me in a language wholly foreign to me. Not sure if they expect me to use Google Translate to interpret what they are saying! Here is an example.
The last time I checked, I did not have a multi-lingual profile that could be driving these communications!
Let me know if any of the above resonates with you. If there are other aspects of social media that you find strange or unusual, do comment. If you liked this post, please share it with your friends using the sharing options below.
I find all four annoying – however, what irks me the most is Endorsements on LinkedIn. If you are really impressed with your colleague’s skill – you should take a few minutes to write a recommendation and highlight what you liked. Endorsement via click of a button devalues both the parties.
In my view, LinkedIn is more business oriented than others and believe that in their quest to become more like others – they will lose their most important attribute.
Thanks,
Upen