If you are one of the 93% of business people who have a web-presence you more than likely also have joined LinkedIn. And if that is the case, you probably also have joined one or more of the thousands of special interest groups on LinkedIn developed by other members of LinkedIn.
The question you probably are asking now is.. Why are so many business people leaving the LinkedIn Groups?
One of the most noticeable benefits and most effective attributes of a well managed LinkedIn Group is in the moderation of who will be allowed in the group. Most groups on LinkedIn do not moderate since it does take time to check out each person who comes into the group. Some will approve them if they produce a photo or a bio.
Yes, there are many groups who are only after large numbers of people to blast promotions out to and allow anyone to join. Joining one of these groups can lead to being inundated with unwanted promotional announcements. Plus, eventually prove to be a waste of time and result in you leaving that group if not LinkedIn all together.
LinkedIn Groups were in the beginning developed for Discussions of subjects relevant to the Groups purpose. Most of the more successful LI group are still holding to that format. Those groups are also heavily monitored to make sure there are only discussions held in the discussions and make sure the members of the group are not spammed by the many misguided people who are only online for the self promotions. These are the groups to belong since the do have a strong membership.
Still, the spam mentality of many business people seeps into these monitored groups. The result is people just giving up on LinkedIn and leave the groups to avoid the possibility of getting unwanted promotions
Following are the reasons business people are leaving LinkedIn Groups:
- Overwhelming number of notices received from members of a LI Group
- Unsolicited messages or promotions.
- Too many unrelated or irrelevant products and services being pitched in the conversation thread
- Large numbers of members of groups attempting to connect with others in the group just to build up a number and not to connect for business purposes
There are still more reasons and I am sure you have a few more to add. The fact is, the problem with people feeling everything they touch online is open to them for promoting something is causing online business and social networking to breakdown. LinkedIN has been doing a good job combating this issue by mercilessly ejecting people out of LinkedIn for spamming members. Still, the damage is done and for the most part business people do not have the time spend wading through unwanted messages from people wanting to connect to sell them some kind of ‘Juice’ MLM scheme. Unfortunately, it will be hard to get these business people back to LinkedIn.
What is the solution? Hopefully you have some ideas.
What has caused the exodus is etiquette, or rather the lack thereof. Networking hasn’t changed, it requires engagement, building trust, and then through more engagement perhaps a referral, or even a sale. But in today’s economic environment, desperation and despair have a stranglehold on good manners and good judgment and all but a few are perpetually in “sell” mode, attempting to shortcut the system while essentially short circuiting the groups. Businesspeople aren’t the only ones who’ve given up. The group owners themselves have begun throwing in the towel and accepting whatever, whenever as the norm, hoping that by sheer numbers alone, their group will gain some relevancy. Unfortunately, LinkedIn has little relevancy in the real world, so why would groups be any better.
Bob,
Good point. Etiquette..or lack of it..is an issue and I like how you put how the economy is forcing behavioral changes in people. I also agree that many Group leaders have given up on hold the line on keeping their group relevant. However, I do see LinkedIn as a player in the real world of business today. Since I get about 80% of my business leads from the site I hold it as a viable business source. But, things change and so will LinkedIn. Thanks for you comment and your support.
Hi Scot, Just came across your blog while researching LinkedIn. It’s a small world. I haven’t noticed more business people leaving LinkedIN. But, I do notice that unfortunately in attempts to be more social some of my groups appear a bit spammier. Some of my groups have evolved from being intimate, private areas for serious conversation to forums for posting superficial content that borders more on self-promotion. Or “devolved” is perhaps a more fitting term. If group spam resulted in being abolished from LinkedIn there might be some adherence to terms of the group. But without any real consequences, I think its up to the group moderator, which of course is an unpaid and perhaps thankless position.