Attorney Michael de Broglio on: South Africa, Law, Politics, Attorneys, Sport, Photography, Technology, Gadgets, Media, Crime, Road Accidents Fund,
Divorce, Maintenance, Personal Injury, Medical Negligence
I know that LinkedIn is apparently useful for many people and particularly personnel agents. I must say though that I suspect that large numbers of people are not actually using the site very often and are certainly not updating their profiles.
In particular, LinkedIn recently suggested a number of potential contacts for me. Quite a few of them were former employees of my firm, some of whom have not been with us for a few years. LinkedIn incorrectly indicates that they work for my firm, and obviously incorrectly reflects how long they have worked for the firm as well. Of course, in the line of what people write, one gets exaggerated descriptions in the first place, such as a former staff member of my firm, who did not exactly excel in terms of her work ethic nor her abilities, now describing herself as a senior legal secretary at another firm. I seriously doubt she holds the position she claims she does, but if indeed she does, well that is frightening. Her description of what she did at my firm is certainly not correct and so I have a fairly good reason to doubt her description of her role at her current firm!
I don’t say any of this to be mean, and that is precisely why I am not naming the person either, but it is ridiculous for example to suggest that somebody who held a relatively junior position in my firm, and is nowhere close to being an attorney, would then be endorsed on LinkedIn by a number of people, who have no legal experience and can’t possibly be qualified to comment, for her legal writing skills, legal research as well as litigation.
I have no problem with LinkedIn doing things in this way, as long as one understands that it does not give you much more information than you could get off Facebook anyway and I wonder if that is the reason that people don’t update their profiles that much now. It is particularly funny how a number of people, if this is indeed a site which is designed to link people on a professional basis have what can only be described as sultry pictures complete with pouty lips, bare muscles for some men, etc, not to mention what appear to be social pictures of three or four people having a drink in a nightclub together as their profile picture! I did invest in LinkedIn shares at one stage, but just based on a recent glance at the site, I would not be interested now. In those days it used to trade at about $200 and it reached a peak of around $269 in February 2015. It currently trades for less than half of that at $116.
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Monday 30-May-16
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Comments
Jessica said:
on Wednesday 22-Jun-16 12:29 PM
I liked linked in, it is better than facebook on a personal level. I also like the fact that it doesn't give more information out about you and that one can't simply send things to you without been accepted. It is very similar to twitter both very short and sweet.
Sarah said:
on Wednesday 22-Jun-16 11:05 AM
I really don't use LinkedIn. It is more of a business plate form.
Mathilda said:
on Wednesday 22-Jun-16 10:47 AM
I actually got an invite to join linkedin from one of my friends ,I did not have the time to go and check what its all about yet but will maybe consider to have a look
Brenda Du Toit said:
on Wednesday 22-Jun-16 10:32 AM
I never heard what LinkedIn .But I will look in to it and see what it is all about.
Jolene said:
on Wednesday 22-Jun-16 10:30 AM
I don't have LinkedIn, don't find it very useful, I think a few years ago it was a big thing but not anymore.
Joyce said:
on Wednesday 22-Jun-16 10:25 AM
just learned from the blog that from LinkedIn you get information that is not updated
Tamzyn said:
on Wednesday 22-Jun-16 08:56 AM
I do not have it (or have never managed to complete the set up). I know many of my friends from Uni have used it with very successful results. I think its just another way of networking.
Sandra said:
on Wednesday 22-Jun-16 08:43 AM
I have a LinkedIn Account - but personally never use it, unless to read up on an interesting work blog
Prishani said:
on Wednesday 08-Jun-16 03:15 PM
I have a LinkedIn account however because I don't make use of it, I haven't updated it for a year or so. This is probably a bad thing because the information reflected on my account haunt been updated and therefore isn't correct.
Daniella said:
on Tuesday 07-Jun-16 08:35 AM
I have never seen the need for linked in personally
Angelique Jurgens said:
on Thursday 02-Jun-16 09:16 AM
I think the only time I even remembered was when it was my birthday and suddenly like a facebook account received happy birhtday messages but through email. Perhaps I would be more interested in it once I am qualified and if I didn't have any other social media but to pay a premium for that sort of platform doesn't make sense to me right now.
Sinead said:
on Wednesday 01-Jun-16 04:29 PM
I actually have a LinkedIn account but I don't use it. I get email notifications but never check them. Not sure how useful it really is....
Tamaryn said:
on Monday 30-May-16 04:23 PM
I have never found LinkedIn to be useful, not for myself or for connecting with other professionals.
Thabitha said:
on Monday 30-May-16 03:44 PM
Such picture on a professional site its not on.
Kaylee said:
on Monday 30-May-16 02:24 PM
I am on Linkedin, but in all honesty don't really use it. I agree that people exaggerate their positions and what work they actually did at a job. I actually think its funny how some people, when dismissed or have resigned for unpleasant circumstances still claim on social networks such as facebook that they still work at their previous company because clearly they work at a place of lesser quality.
Zanell said:
on Monday 30-May-16 02:22 PM
I have linked in but to be honest I have no idea how it really works, I do no use it at all. I tried at one stage but then gave up.
Daria said:
on Monday 30-May-16 12:46 PM
I have never been interested in Linkedin and i don't think i would ever join.
Alexis said:
on Monday 30-May-16 09:35 AM
Have never signed up for it. Apparently it is still used and by quite a number of people.
Bianca said:
on Monday 30-May-16 09:20 AM
I remember signing up for LinkedIn when I first joined the company and I haven't been online since signing up. I do believe though from what I have heard it can be a great tool when seeking a new career opportunity. I suppose the misrepresentation could happen anyway, even on a person's CV.
Suzanne said:
on Monday 30-May-16 08:44 AM
I don't have a LinkedIn account. I also think you are able to obtain much more information from a person's Facebook profile.
Clare said:
on Monday 30-May-16 07:55 AM
I actually did not know What Linked in was i will looking into it and see what it is all about.
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
