One of the things I talk about in my job search classes is
the power behind LinkedIn and that if you’re not using it, you mostly likely will
not be found. Consequently, the Groups
function of LinkedIn is a great way to network, ask and answer questions,
join conversations and to generally demonstrate your knowledge about a certain
topic.
Something I’ve noticed on LinkedIn (or any on-line article
that solicits feedback) is that people can be downright mean and argumentative
in their responses. Someone might ask a
perfectly innocent question about something and various members within a group will
go off on a mean spirited tyrant about the way the question was worded or the
responses of the other people.
As I skimmed the comments in a professional
resume writers group this morning, I noticed a poll requesting feedback about
the best type of resume format; chronological, functional or both. Good, I thought; this should be interesting
for me to read and share. As I went down
the row of comments though, I noticed that some of the comments were
mean-spirited and pompous. It was uncomfortable and most of the people who were
saying great things stopped commenting. I suppose that the person doing the ranting considers themselves an expert and that the opinions of the others in the group are meaningless.
There’s no need for this and people seem to forget that
recruiters and potential clients may be able to see many of the comments or
questions. Personally, a know-it-all resume writer would turn me off and I’d go
looking for someone with a better personality.
2 comments:
Hi Nancy...I'm dealing with a similar situation right now with a LinkedIn group I started and moderate called "Ask a Career Expert". Recently a new person joined us, and suddenly posted long, rambling diatribes in a number of our active conversations. This was not a career professional, but a member of the public. At the time, I saw no reason to deny his membership in the group, but since have needed to carefully moderate every one of his posts and also publicly ask him to tone down his mean-spirited, condescending remarks. I'm not sure why he sought us out just to attack the manner in which we're trying to help people.
I'm not one to censor, but I did need to alert this person that he would be removed from the group should this behavior continue. Anyone can and should present an opposing viewpoint but for the sake of all involved should do so in a professional manner.
Your post is well-timed and truly represents an unfortunate trend in this area.
Hi Jeffrey,
I'm sorry to hear that it is happening in your group too! For a while the comments on LinkedIn generally remained professional. Lately though it seems as if anything goes. If you read the articles on Yahoo, online news or some of the sports spots, people get downright nasty. It's too bad that it happens on LinkedIn too - especially a group like yours that is offering a helpful service.
Nancy
Post a Comment