LinkedIn is a very useful social media website that can help you build your professional network as well as stay up to date on industry trends. But it is absolutely crucial to keep in mind that like most social media sites, LinkedIn has a code of etiquette. Here I will describe some of the rules to effective participation in this very useful social media website.
Rule #1
LinkedIn is NOT Facebook! There is a a box for “share an update” that looks similar to the Facebook status update. But on LinkedIn, it is not appropriate to update your status with useless information about your personal life.Telling your Facebook friends about how you “just had the best sandwich for lunch but now you are feeling tired…” makes you sound extremely self-absorbed. But saying it on Facebook doesn’t damage your career. Comments like that on LinkedIn make you look both unprofessional and self-absorbed, two very undesirable characteristics in the business world. Any comment you make on LinkedIn should be made in an effort to add valuable information to a conversation.
Rule #2
Understand the privacy settings on LinkedIn. The default setting allows anyone whose page you look at to see you looked at it. You can set it so that nobody can see the pages you look at, but you also can’t see who looks at yours. Decide what kind of cyber stalker you want to be and move on from there. Just be aware that unless you fix your setting so that nobody can see your activity, people will know you were on their page!
Rule#3
Use LinkedIn groups to promote your product or services in a very subtle, natural way. It is a great way to participate in industry conversations. Don’t sell your product or services directly because it’s too pushy for LinkedIn. Just watch the sales people who jump on every opprtunity they see. Social media is all about thought leadership NOT sales. Commit yourself to the conversation and you will sell your product/service by default.
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