LinkedIn Addiction, more dangerous than you think

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LinkedIn is one of the most popular networking portals with over 15 million profiles. Once you start using it, you'll find it hard to resist for a number of reasons. It has some very good tools such as the search tool which you use to search for other networkers. It is 'top of the line'.

However, LinkedIn will only let you search the amount of profiles which are related to your network. You'll either have to know them directly, indirectly (friend of a friend) or in the third line (his friends). So a 'bigger' network leads to more visible (and thus available) profiles (quantity).

Furthermore, it works the other way around as well. You'll be more visible the moment you have a bigger network.

That principle in itself would have been enough to stimulate a quantity oriented growth on LinkedIn, but they went further by 'ranking' the LinkedIn networkers to the numbers of contacts in various ways. Amongst others, LinkedIn ranks;
- the amount of contacts you have;
- the amount of questions and answers you give in the Q & A section;
- the amount of recommendations you have;
- the amount of key-words you are using in your profile.

If your ranking is 'higher' you'll be more visible throughout your network, so being quantity driven became a real necessity in being (regarded) successful on LinkedIn. The more quantity, the higher your 'Status'. It's business model thus appeals directly to our status, on how 'good' we appear to be to the others.

Before we knew what was happening, everyone was trying to connect with everyone and people got addicted to the quantity system. I do not use the word 'addiction' lightly, it is a real problem. People where getting addicted and spend more and more time online in finding ways to add more quantity and thus status to their profile. They send out emails by the bulk and when they became restricted on LI, people where quick to use other means (e.g.: their private email client and using other quantity oriented groups like Plaxo Pulse Beta or Yahoo Groups) to add attention towards their LinkedIn profile and personal page.. Begging to get connected, adding to the quantities. The LinkedIn behaviour influenced behaviour on other networks as well even if they aren't quantity oriented.

There are quite a number of really addicted networkers now who are just adding quantity to their profile on LinkedIn. They are working on their LinkedIn quantities all day, neglecting their family, just hoping their LI-network will make a difference in their job. They totally forget they are just feeding their ego...

Contra-movement
I chose to leave the path of quantity once I noticed that LinkedIn isn't enabling quality networks at all. It doesn't bring you anything, no real business even if you have 14.000 direct contacts like I have (screen shot above). It's just a phone book with no value. Even worse, you can call people in a phone-book, on LinkedIn you can just send emails which will be regarded as another spamming-mail by most people. There have even been court battles over the ownership of LI 'contacts' believing they represent any value forgetting that anyone can acquire this phone book. It is the quality of the networking action (like being able to phone the other person, which you can't do on LinkedIn), that counts, not the mere 'contact'.

However I used it to study online networking behavior and to find out 'what does work online'.
I found out that the more you are able to Profile yourself in a quality way and you are enabled by the network to interact from that profile, the better your chances to reach your intended networking goals. People who understood that and who were doing that in general weren't 'status' or 'ego' driven, instead they tended to be passionate about what they are doing, believing in their individual mission in life, not the status that depends on it.
They tended to be more or less spiritual inspired. Just Being yourself and being able to profile that online in a quality way by adding quality content and tools such as photo, video and instant messaging proved far more effective. These individuals where able to attract online networkers who share a common passion which is individually related, not measured by external factors. They became 'effective' online, also in doing business.

The Open Networkers is a Movement that helps people in the transition from quantity to quality oriented networking. To leave the status behind, to really start thinking about You, your passion in life and how to profile that effectively in order to attract matching people to your cause.
It lead to more self-awareness and a new sense of Leadership which is following passion and the flow of the moment instead of being dependent on the outside world and it's superficial 'rewards'.

Do join us and help people on their way from quantity to quality, for the sake of everyone's personal development, we are far better than being just a 'number', we can Be and be Ourselves online..