TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
I have to track down the link, but there was a terrific rant a few weeks
ago about generic LinkedIn invitations and how wrong they are. The ones
that really tick me off are the ones from strangers that begin "Because
you're a person I trust..."
I'm a believer in the original LinkedIn ethos -- that you should only
connect with people you know in the real world. That said, like many others
here, I usually check the profile when someone sends me a generic request.
The profile page will often tell you in the sidebar if you have connections
to other people in your network or a group you belong to. I ignore many
more invitations than I accept.
Where it gets dicey for me is that I have a book out (*Build Your Author
Platform: The New Rules* at better bookstores everywhere) that, among other
things, urges writers to create and maintain a LinkedIn account. So I've
been accepting a few more requests recently than I used to.
About the only times I send out invitations based on "someone you might
know" are of the "You mean I never connected with <person X> before? My
bad!" variety.
On Mon, Jul 21, 2014 at 9:19 AM, Monique Semp <monique -dot- semp -at- earthlink -dot- net>
wrote:
> Hello, TechWR-L-ers,
>
> As I periodically do, Iâm tending to the backlog of LinkedIn invitations
> that Iâve received, and Iâm struck again by how the vast, vast majority
> (say, 99% ?), are not personalized in the least little way.
>
> And although the theory of LinkedIn is that every connection should be
> welcomed, Iâm finding it difficult to believe that anything usefulâand I
> just mean in the way of writing-related conversation, NOT a lead to a
> future job or anythingâwill come of connecting with someone who doesnât
> even take the time to say where I might know the person from or why I might
> want to connect.
>
> I can assume that many of these invitations come from participants in the
> many groups and listservs in which I participate, but thatâs just itâI
> participate in so many that itâs hard to keep up and recognize everyone.
> But of all people, Iâd expect my fellow writers to want to add a sentence
> or two to the default message that results from clicking âPeople You May
> Know.â
>
> So two questions:
>
> 1. When youâre on the receiving end of invitations, do you treat them any
> differently based on whether theyâve been personalized? Why or why not?
>
> 2. When you send invitations, why or why not do you choose to personalize
> the message?
>
> Just wondering,
> -Monique
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Read about how Georgia System Operation Corporation improved teamwork,
> communication, and efficiency using Doc-To-Help | http://bit.ly/1lRPd2l
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as workingwriter -at- gmail -dot- com -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
>http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and
> info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online
> magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public
> email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Read about how Georgia System Operation Corporation improved teamwork, communication, and efficiency using Doc-To-Help | http://bit.ly/1lRPd2l
