I logged into LinkedIn this morning to find a new feature, the "Featured Question" with a new question from none other than Barack Obama. Something banal about how a president could help small businesses (someone of his staff must have decided LinkedIn appeals to small businesspeople and entrepreneurs)
Clicking further, I found that you can join his "group" and display the nifty button above on your own LinkedIn page.
My reaction was slight annoyance. Stop commercializing LinkedIn and all that. I don't want to know who my LinkedIn friends are voting for. I just want to know where they worked.
Remember Barry, if you're running for president, you are a brand. And Your Brand Is Not My Friend™.
I can understand about wanting to keep politics and business seperate. Then again, sometimes knowing which way people lean politically can help you evaluate their opinions/reccomendations/advice.
ReplyDeleteAnd in the I-used-to-work-with-this-guy-but-haven't-seen-him-in-years world of LinkedIn, every bit of info helps. Even the fact they they're the kind of person who'd put a political banner on their profile tells you something about them, right? But again, I get your point TT.
@FATC: Great description of LinkedIn: "I-used-to-work-with-this-guy-but-haven't-seen-him-in-year"
ReplyDeleteI can see how knowing that someone is an Obamaphile would tell me something about them. Just not something I'd care to know.
It's like that whole questions section: whenever one of my friends actually answers something I cringe, thinking "dude,it's you and 25 HR flacks from places like Stockton, CA. Don't put yourself on their level. Resist the urge to pontificate. It's your real name on there, after all."