LinkedIn Enterprise Search Group
March 22, 2009
I had someone join LinkedIn for me. We examined the service, and I have not paid much attention to the service since that client engagement. I wanted to capture three impressions of the service, particularly with regard to the enterprise search group. The name of this group is “enterprise search professionals”. I don’t know enough about LinkedIn to know if the link will work. Have a go. Someone asked me to join this group, and I did, assuming that it would be a useful source of information. So far, I haven’t obtained much, if any, substantive information. I recall reading a short item about LinkedIn abuse a while back. Here’s that story. I quite liked the word “smell”, but it may not apply to my experience.
I did form several impressions of this most recent go round with LinkedIn:
First, I had a stack of invitations from people who wanted to be in my network. I went through the invites and I sent people who said they knew me but I had no recollection of them. Two were interesting. One person said I was at a conference and we met. I looked in my calendar and found out that I was in Estonia when the US conference took place. I called the person on it and got a snippy response. The second person was an individual whom I had attempted to contact after the individual spoke with me after one of my lousy lectures. The fellow was too busy to return my call, but now I am the cat’s pajamas. Sorry. I suppose having lots of contacts is a good thing, but with whom am I connecting?
Second, I responded to a post from a person who wanted advice about building from scratch an enterprise search engine. In my goosely way, I explained that this do it yourself approach was not such a good idea. Anyone who pushed this idea over commercial off the shelf or open source search systems was sort of clueless. I received an impassioned private email wanting to know how I could make blanket statements such as “trophy generation”, “entitlement thinker,” and “carpetbagger.” Well, I write the way I speak. The message was clear in my mind: anyone who advises an organization to code its own search system is taking a step that has a high probability of leading to a financial mess. Heck, you can’t install a commercial system without a balancing act.
Third, the LinkedIn enterprise search forum has been usurped by outfits trying to hire–you guessed it–enterprise search experts. I wrote a public comment about a series of Microsoft job adverts for enterprise search experts. I pointed out that I wasn’t interested in having the forum turned into Monster.com or a Craigslist.org. I did quite fancy the desperation these three postings made evident to me. If Microsoft Fast has its search act together, why blast those in the business with appeals for immediate technical help? Maybe these posters figured I would dip into my address book and provide them with the names of people who could provide some support. Wrong.
Fourth, when I looked at this group yesterday (March 21, 2009), the list of recommended articles consisted only of pointers to my personal Web log Beyond Search. I wrote a comment suggesting that LinkedIn limit itself to one link per week. I mean check out the About section of this newsletter. I am writing as the addled goose and tackling subjects in a contrary manner as part of a traffic and visibility campaign suggested by one of my 20 year old PR advisors. Nice try on someone’s part to highlight my addled goose thoughts, but there are more useful writes ups to point out the group members in my opinion.
I know that social networks are all the rage. I think there is an opportunity for professional groups. These specialist networks may benefit from some guidelines, moderators, and prohibition against multiple job advertisements.
Just my opinion and I have 2.5 contacts. Pretty darned amazing since I am an addled goose paddling in a mine run off pond in rural Kentucky. One final thought: if you want to be my linked in pal, please, stick with the truth about our meeting, bonding, and exchanging ideas via a Vulcan mind meld.
Stephen Arnold, March 22, 2009
Comments
2 Responses to “LinkedIn Enterprise Search Group”
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Hilarious! My sentiments exactly. I think we went though the exact same experience at the exact same time. We’re pretty much done with LinkedIn as well. It has some practical applications, but true networking isn’t one of them considering the current user base… at least in our industry.
What an experience. I agree in that the LinkedIn Groups should not be used for job seeking.
The “connecting” part of individuals that have the same interest and (maybe) can contribute to the “collective” knowlegde on the topic of Enterprise search is worth sustaining.
If you can contribute to the community or network, please do so. Of course it is useless to discuss topics that have been extensively discussed on the web or have been addressed by you on your site.
I am a search professional for a couple of years now and I am also wondering why certain issues and questions are still beeing discussed on the web while the solutions are so clear because of the experience that I have had. Still it is a good thing to hear and see experiences or questions that other persons have.
Why else do we organize and visit these seminars and events 😉