Archive for July 7th, 2008



Fake LinkedIn Users

July 7th, 2008 by Gregory Silvano Posted in LinkedIn | 2 Comments »

Really, I have absolutely no idea why this bugs me so much, but man does it bug me.  Fake LinkedIn users are all over the site, especially in the Answers section.

How do you spot them?  Easy:

1)   Very generic name

2)  Zero connections or just one connection to somebody else with just one connection

3)  They ask lots of stupid or inflammatory questions

 I first realized this was happening when I saw a question from Jessica Jones.  Her (probably his) questions are odd and frequently offensive.  Why is she fake?  Let’s see, there is no “Hostile Games” company and Jessica Jones is a fictional character from Marvel Comics.  I complained to LinkedIn a few times about her, but her/his profile still exists.  Check out the “Jessica’s Questions” link on the profile to find some gems.

Even more frustrating are the countless LinkedIn users who actually answer her/his questions.  I just feel like we’re all getting duped, and I hate feeling like the fool.  I suspect the profiles are created by somebody doing a paper on social web sites or human interaction or something like that.  But do that on MySpace or Facebook.  Leave LinkedIn to the professionals, please.

LinkedIn needs to do something about this.  It’s a growing problem and erodes my trust of their network.

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