ANOTHER REASON TO JOIN LINKEDIN. OR NOT? -PART II

Having struck gold, the altruist had to share. I started out by collecting data from friends on the use of LinkedIn. I wanted to know what people used LinkedIn for. This article details the findings from the 40 responses I received.

15% of the respondents did not have LinkedIn accounts and the sole reason was they did not know what LinkedIn was (shocking!). They either had not heard about it or they had heard about it but did not know its purpose (I don’t think I know its purpose either ??). Some believed it was no different from other social media applications and for that reason, there was need to join another social media community.

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For those that had LinkedIn accounts, the majority wanted to connect with a professional body. Some joined for, as expected, job opportunities. Others wanted to share their thoughts and ideas with the world. And for some, the desire to market themselves had them set up accounts. A few people “just wanted to check it out” and there was the rather odd peer pressure. (I mentioned in my previous article that I took this survey somehow because of peer pressure. ‘Twas somewhat relieving to see someone joined as a result of the same pressure that was making me question my decision.) This answer struck me though, “For unforeseen future use”. (Struck me as funny)

The reasons for which people joined this wonderful community (in my opinion) had a direct correlation with the frequency of usage. The person who joined because everyone else did, rarely used LinkedIn. Funny enough, someone wanted peer pressure to use it often. The person writes, “Nothing has ever pushed me to use it, and I unfortunately don't have a lot of people around me using it.” People who wanted jobs and wanted to get noticed were constantly making appearances so as to draw the right attention. Some people (the anomalies) who joined for the “right” reasons” but did not use LinkedIn often did not understand the how it worked, or did not have the time to use LinkedIn as often as they would. LinkedIn had to compete for their attention with other social media applications. LinkedIn was someone’s precursor to WhatsApp – meet a professional; take her number; continue over WhatsApp. Some used other social media applications more than they did LinkedIn because LinkedIn is “not that engaging”. Some just couldn’t find the time to participate actively on the platform. The answer that stood out to me was, “I don't need any connection as yet”. This was coming from someone who rarely made an appearance but joined the community to connect. Interesting. Sadly, (in my opinion) only 26.5% of respondents who have and account were an active part of the community. Reasons were for drawing the right attention, getting job opportunities, learning (??), making connections, keeping up with the trends, among others.

I asked if respondents thought it a good idea to have LinkedIn accounts. For reasons of making lifelong and useful connections, people believed it a good idea. Some thought so too because LinkedIn gives the necessary exposure. Others shared the thought because they believe LinkedIn keeps you informed about current trends. This was a nice response: “Sitting in your corner and thinking yourself a genius is bad for one’s self-image. It's good to what others are doing especially in one’s field of expertise”.  Of those that thought otherwise, they either had no idea what LinkedIn was about, or they felt it no different from other social media applications. The one “no” that got me thinking was: “I don't know if it'll benefit everyone”. I believed I had found gold, but the statement got me thinking if everyone wanted gold.

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