Lately, I have been receiving reminders fairly frequently from the socio-professional network called LinkedIn. All this time I have been treating them just as I treat any Nigerian email claiming to share a sudden multi-million dollar windfall if I reply to them; drag-and-drop in the trash – the electronic trash that is – on my computer.
But today I had some time to myself and curiosity took the better of me – isn’t it curious how curiosity does it? I clicked on the link and ended up on the sign-in (or is it the sign-on?) page (I’m sure most of my readers are conversant with the terminology – if not, too bad). I entered my personal email address and tried a few of my usual password. I got in on the 4th attempt – had it been a site designed by folks who design ATM software I guess I would have had it after the 3rd incorrect attempt. “Designing ATM software”, now why does that sounds awfully familiar?
Anyway….
WTF? There were 43 requests waiting for me. Some were requests for endorsements and others invitations to join various groups. I was no longer interested in joining any other group. That left me with 14 requests for endorsements. Suddenly I felt important. People actually want my endorsements? Wow! I started writing a few in earnest. By the end of the day, I had only managed to complete 6.
One question though,… Do potential employers really take these endorsements seriously? I mean in this internet/social networking age, deceptions and impersonations are as commonplace as fries at McDonalds aren’t they?
