Journal tomhudson's Journal: If there's one thing even more useless than failbook ... 2
That was one site that, when they asked "are you sure?", I had no problem saying "Nuke it."
The "reverse network effect"
A lot of people make much about the network effect - the bigger the network, the more valuable it is. linkedin is an example of how this often doesn't hold true. Like failbook, the value of the network goes down the bigger it gets, because it's simply less focused. The "product" becomes diluted. Less attention can be paid to any one thing - it becomes like those annoying ticker-tape crawlers on newscasts. A few headlines, no content.
Here's an experiment - I bet you could create a profile saying that you're Charles Manson or Lizzie Bordon reincarnated, that you eat boiled babies with a side order of kittens and puppies, are currently serving time in a state mental institution, and that you're a scientologist + jehovah's witness (that's the ticket - scientologists knocking on our doors on Sundays - a sure-fire way to get voters to repeal gun-control laws), and you will still get friended by tons of people who just click "yes" on every request so they can "build their network."
I have a profile, but... (Score:2)
At some point LinkedIn started charging to use what they claimed were useful features. Or something. I really don't remember or care. I didn't see much use for the whole thing anyway, even if everything were (or is) free. I still have a profile there, but I really don't use it. I've got a backlog of a bunch of contact requests, most of them from people I actually know, but I don't want to accept them and in that way encourage people to keep using this thing, especially to reach me.