My Life: Wired

As I have been continuing this journey of cutting out the excess e-fat that I have accumulated over the years, one of the most standard fights is social networking. Facebook made a lot of sense to cut first because it was nothing more than useless spam that added no value in my life. Google+ was to be the next social network I cut, even though I am so new to it (and it is still in its infancy), merely because it is nothing more than another Facebook. Yet, I began following the Occupy movement on it. Twitter, I figured, would be the social network I would never lose because of how easy it is to stream news, and isn't like my Google Reader where I have over 1,000 unread items (that I feel compelled to read!)

Then comes LinkedIn, the "professional" social network. I always defined LinkedIn as a different social network, much like how twitter is a different one compared to Facebook. It was more... professional? The idea makes sense, as it gives people someplace to post their 'résumé' and make connections. But how efficient is LinkedIn in building your résumé, finding new opportunities, and advancing your career?

Honesty, I have no idea...

I have never heard of anyone speak how LinkedIn has helped their career, nor have I heard of anyone finding a job through the site. I tend to hear more about Craigslist, and I can personally vouch for (real) job posting sites because the company I have worked at for the last 18 months found me on Monster. I have also read that Facebook is becoming more popular with finding a job, although I don't have the link to that article.

So why LinkedIn? because it makes sense to a lot of people. They can have a professional identity on one social network meant for professionals, and a personal identity on the other network(s) if chosen. You can connect with you bosses and not worry about them seeing the status update about how plastered you got the night before. I believe LinkedIn's is a good safe haven for people's identity, although I am not sure how safe it is.

But that brings up the whole point of question at hand. LinkedIn now appears no more than another social network that doesn't add much value to your résumé. If a potential employer is reviewing you online, do you think he/she will go to your LinkedIn account to see the same information as what you gave them on your résumé? No. If they were searching for you online, they would look for a twitter account or Facebook account to find out more of who you are, as an individual.

It makes it hard to really see any benefit to having a LinkedIn account. Especially in knowing the main focus of all social networks is data mining, you have to ask if the site you rarely visit is really worth it. Does is add anything to real networking, résumés, job posting sites, and job hunting? I highly doubt it.

I will sleep on it, but most likely will drop my profile.

Update 11/19: Officially Deleted. I might set one up later, but it would strictly be after I set up a good profile website.