Case in point... LinkedIn Groups... Like most of you, I belong to many of these, and I'm still trying to figure out how they're going to change my life. For the moguls-in-training among us, the dream has always been to start a LinkedIn group, then ride that puppy until it had a 50K membership, then milk it like an ATM with no limit....
At least, that's what I've heard. There's just this little problem...
There's no utility or functionality to LinkedIn groups of note. Don't believe me? Let's examine a few of the tasty "alerts" or "questions" that LinkedIn HR generated to me awhile back, before I shut off notification from groups. There were 47 Q&A's included in the last massive group I saw, including the following hard hitting and valuable entries:
-"Executive search service support in Brazil"...
-"I am very interested in being on corporate boards. Any advice on how to be invited?"
-"Open Networker looking to connect"
-"Your workplace wellness consultant and provider"
-"Sr Developer needed in Austin"
And these aren't the worst. Remind me why I'm a part of LinkedIn Groups again? I thought it fair to share when social media fails to deliver on the promise, since I've never been afraid to jump on the bandwagon when it's good.
Jason Seiden's wondering the same thing - here's what he wrote recently:
"I’m a member of a number of LinkedIn Groups... I didn’t open <the email updates> any of them, because clearly, they were not written for me.
The posters wrote for themselves. Isn’t it obvious?
Want to get my attention? Try something like this:
“Build your network in New York City”
“Improve your tech infrastructure by putting a 15 yr IT pro on the job”
“I can help you sell your business services.”These are starting points. Not great, but at least focused on me and not you. Even better, try:
“Jason, I’m interested in hiring you, are you in LA?” That’ll get my attention.
“Has anyone Shazamed the theme from Die Hard?” This is a triple win: I’m a pop culture junkie, I’m a tech junkie, and I know the answer. (It’s Beethoven’s 9th—and don’t you dare get all upper crusty if you knew it and thought it was obvious.)
“How do you make layered slides in Keynote for a sales prezo… anyone?” I may not answer you, but I’ll probably lurk, b/c I want the answer myself… plus, I’m curious about the deck you’re building.
Need more specific help? Email or call to set up an appointment. In the meantime, just do me—and everyone else on LinkedIn—a favor, and shut up about yourself."
LinkedIn Groups. Functionality that seems like a good idea still looking for a drop of utility.
I have to confess, I don't use LinkedIn groups either. I belong to a bunch, but I don't look at the e-mails the majority of the time.
Kind Regards,
Alexandra Levit
Author, They Don't Teach Corporate in College
Blogger, Water Cooler Wisdom
http://www.alexandralevit.com
Posted by: Alexandra Levit | May 22, 2009 at 08:49 AM
I wonder if your problem isn't with the "LinkedIn Groups function" - but more with the Group Managers of the Groups you are a member of (for not managing the activity). I'm also in several of the same groups and have the notifications turned off as well, because nothing is of interest. However, I get a nice badge on my profile for branding purposes and for my purposes as a Recruiter, LinkedIn Groups are a great way to communicate with others on LinkedIn that aren't direct connections for free via the Group Member messaging feature. So even the Groups that don't provide good Discussion content can be very useful to me.
I manage a group of almost 10k members that was set up for networking and professional development purposes geared towards people in my city. In my group, there are a number of questions asked, networking opportunities promoted, requests for referrals, news items shared and jobs posted daily. As the Group Manager, I check the Discussions/News/Jobs tabs a few times a day to make sure that any inappropriate items are deleted or posts are appearing under the right tab. I've also learned that while I personally don't need to know "Who is the best Toyota mechanic in Cincinnati?", the fact that it got over 40 responses means the many of the Group Members found the post helpful and are engaged. I get consistently positive feedback from members of the group via email and in person that they've connected to jobs/hired someone, found resources, learned about networking/professional development opportunities, etc. I've also personally gotten business as a result of my involvement with the Group and through making people in my network aware of some of the opportunities mentioned within the group I've connected others to business opportunities as well.
If you're looking for specific things from LinkedIn Groups, maybe you could create your own Group within LinkedIn? Set the group up with a specific purpose and monitor the posting activity. (You could also create a closed group and only allow certain types of professionals in.) It doesn't take that much time to manage and while there are a variety of other (better) options for people to communicate in shared interest groups (like Ning groups for example), most of the world hasn't yet discovered those and many are just dipping their toes into LinkedIn. So it's a way to access many of the people who aren't in the "early adopter" wave, but are still clients, potential clients, candidates, colleagues and great resources.
Posted by: Jennifer McClure | May 22, 2009 at 11:47 AM
Jennifer - You Got it! The group isn't the problem - as usual in most "organizations" of people, it's the manager. Most groups are "Popeiled" - they set'em and forget'em. Active management keeps the membership focused, the topics on topic and the value high. When the manager let's it go - that's when you get the "buy my stuff" posts and links to services no one in the group would want.
I do think they need more functions - such as widgets, etc. that can be added to list great "sites" rather than just running lists of "news" - find ways to make the group a destination for like-minded individuals.
Posted by: Paul Hebert | May 23, 2009 at 07:33 AM
I think that your example speaks to the problem with social networks: they struggle to actually connect people in a meaningful way. Virtual connections, while good, can never replace face to face meetings or lunches, and too often give way to messages and posts like you mention in your piece. Also, many of these Linked In groups and other social networking sites become passive in nature where instead of engaging and 'socializing', we tend to sit back and observe the flow of conversations from others.
A final point is that we have joined too many broad groups and sites. I think that social networking sites dedicated to broad initiatives like friends (Facebook and MySpace) or careers (Linked In) cannot provide the tools we actually need to connect. While there will always be a place for the Facebooks of the world, I see their role much more as new Yellowpages. I believe that we will move towards niche social networking sites where each person in the network is an active participant on the network, and truly cares about what is being discussed (similar to how blogs are structured today).
Posted by: Brett Hummel | May 23, 2009 at 02:35 PM
It is a mixed bag. Many of the groups really are junk in terms of content and are of limited value in locating individuals who have similar interests. In the latter respect, it occurs to me that a bit of twitter searching and a little reading of tweet streams is a far more direct and efficient way of locating people who have similar interests/background.
That said, there are some useful and active Linkedin groups. One pattern that I've noticed is that groups that are technically specialized and have achieved a reasonable size (several hundred to a few thousand) seem to have more valuable and sustained discussion threads than the groups of any size that are organized around broader business, industry, or professional topics.
Rather than using groups as a type of "identity badge" (a statement of who I am), I actively try them out. I also make it a point of quitting one of my existing groups every time I decide to give a new a try.
Posted by: Chuck Allen | May 25, 2009 at 11:01 AM
This is a great question. LinkedIn group membership does allow you to message more potential connections who have similar interests or who work etc. within industries or networks of interest to you. Groups can also help you identify recruiters seeking candidates, candidates seeking jobs, potential bloggers or contributors, potential partners, customers, and business contacts and more.
I definitely agree that the group management makes or breaks the value of the group. If the manager does a good job at building the group and connecting with the group through announcements etc., the community grows and the quality of the discussion and news sections of the group tends to improve.
Posted by: Chris Perry | May 25, 2009 at 07:50 PM