Is linkedin dead?

Many of my colleagues know that I have been obsessed with linkedin. Many job seekers I speak with understand that I am a bit of a linkedin evangelist. I mean, why not? The concept is sound; A social network for professionals. No file sharing, no "let's see your pictures from your vacation", no "let's write embarrassing comment on your wall". Rather, it's a simple group of Business professionals networking to advance their professional Goals. And hey! there's not shortage of members; When I joined there were 5 Million members, today, the linkedin membership sits at about 22 Million, and is growing at a rate of 1 million members per month.

This all sounds great...but what if you are a real networker? What if you are one of those people that network for the sake of networking? What if you're really popular, and are a magnet for contacts? Many professions in high network traffic roles, ARE such people. In linkedin terms, these people are called "Super networkers" and they, (like me, I guess) were early linkedin adopters. In many cases, (Read: Vincent Wright, Shally Steckerl, Christian Mayaud) many of those adopters became Linkedin evangelists. We told our friends, we told our contacts, I even put an invitation to link in in my signature file. Then we proceeded to network with other like minded individuals via linkedin. Suddenly, our network began growing exponentially. As evangelists of what was a grassroots organization, these early adopters were ecstatic to be supporting a good idea, turn great. The founders of linkedin, were quick to acknowledge many of these early evangelists...

Then, about 1 year ago, somethingbad happened, something really really bad: Riding the wave of fame, linkedin changed. The founding executives moved on, and new management was brought in. Suddenly, an organization that was once dedicated to social networking, and to supporting their super networkers (Vincent Wright, with over 1000 linkedin related groups had the linkedin graphics design team, design a linkedin-centric logo for his biggest group; Mylinkedinpowerforum) re-focused their targets on Profits. Now don't get me wrong, I believe in making money, in fact, I am personally on the most expensive linkedin account, the $200/month professional account. And so, in the beginning of this change, I was content...sure, they wouldn't stroke our egos any more, but the tool was effective, and efficient, and more and more I became dependent...

Then, one day a few months ago I noticed that linkedin was beginning to hang...It slowed down. Then a few weeks later, I notice a number of my contacts disappearing...then, critical failures would occur in the middle of my search. My linkedin homepage would cause my whole browser to crash! What was wrong? I emailed the Customer Service Department...and got nothing.

Then one of my fellow networkers posted their own complaint, on another board. The gist of the response? (I'm paraphrasing) "You super networkers represent on 0.1% of our network. To become that connected, you obviously are using linkedin in a way that it wasn't meant to be used. You are TOO connected, and it's all your fault. We know that your profile is failing you, and we have no plans on fixing your problems any time soon. Fixing the problems for super networkers is at the bottom of the priority list....

So now, for the last several weeks I have been getting Error messages when ever I try to run a search. Finally, after absolute frustration with my account, my company contacted the sales person who charged us $200/month for 40 users.

His response was even BETTER than the hearsay "The best short term fix would be for Konstantinos to disconnect from a few other "super users" or LIONS as that would be the quickest way to restore the normal behavior. ". That's right everyone. The best way to make linkedin work for you, is to reduce the size of your network.

Well, I wasn't the only person to be alienated. Most recently, Vincent Wright, the former Linkedin Super user/evangelist canceled his subscription to linkedin.

More and more recruiters are using linkedin at alarming rate. And why not? It's a great recruitment tool. However, as these recruiters continue to join and grow their network, the number of "Super users" is going to increase too! And these aren't just any type of users...Many Recruiters purchase the most expensive linkedin packages to ensure premium exposure and utility of the platform?

So what is the future of linkedin? I am not sure. But, earlier this week the company was estimated to be worth over $1B USD. Perhaps the investors know something that I don't know. But, it does seem like simple math to me. Continue to alienate your biggest client group, and eventually, they will leave. The customer may not always be right, but if you tell them often enough, then they will tell their friends and begin looking for the next community to welcome them with open arms. With the Social networking fad is at it's all time peak, I suspect that this kicking of their biggest paying client group / target demographic (read: Recruiters) while they're down down (many can't even get their home page to load), is not the best business practice...Especially when groups like Ning, and BlueChipExpert and Plaxo, continue to push for growth.

Moral of this story. Continue to use linkedin, it is still a very effective marketing and networking tool for Business Professionals...but if you are an avid networker, and are hell bent on growth, I would think twice before you start using linkedin as the platform for your efforts.