Helpful Suggestions for LinkedIn

1) Add an algorithm
Sorry, Julie Shaw. When you lived in town we were fast friends and saw one another all the time. But you moved. When I tried to reconnect to you on LinkedIn I learned that there are 212 of you. I'm not sure of the name of the company where you work anymore. I'm not going to sift through hundreds of names to see if you have signed up on LinkedIn. So, unfortunately, you and I are not going to connect on LinkedIn until I see that one of our mutual acquaintances has already done the legwork.

Or, there may be three people with a more distinctive name, but I still can't recognize them. Maybe I know Elois as a writer for Widget Gazette, but he lists his employer as United Media Publishers.

With Elois I may take a chance (if I'm pretty sure he'll recognize my name) and send him a message saying, "Is this the Elois who wrote the fascinating roundup of the widget industry last fall? If so, would you like to network on LinkedIn?"

There is a penalty for being wrong, however. Did you ever click on the

Only invite people you know well and who know you. Find out why.

link? You'll learn that

"recipients can indicate that they don’t know you.
If they do, you’ll be asked to enter an email address with each future invitation."

This is a good thing. If you and I exchanged two emails (or you paid me a sales call) two years ago, and you import all your contacts, but I do not remember you, no, I don't want to link up with you. Thanks anyway. I'm going to indicate that I don't know you and LinkedIn will eventually penalize you.

LinkedIn's privacy policy says

"Any other use of LinkedIn (such as seeking to connect to someone a User does not know or to use LinkedIn as a means of generating revenue through the sale of contacts or information to others) is strictly prohibited and is a violation of this Agreement.....LinkedIn may limit the number of connections you may have to other Users and prohibit you from contacting other Users through use of the Services."

But what if I'm just unlucky, and with all the genuine goodwill in the world I send too many invitations to the wrong people? Will LinkedIn limit the number of my connections? Unfair. I think LinkedIn needs an algorithm based on how common a name is. If there are 800 Barbara Andersons, then my reaching out to the wrong Barbara should count a lot less than if I mistakenly contact, say, Katharine Hadow.

2) Change your default invitation
Also, (I have already suggested this to LinkedIn) their default invitation needs to change. If I invite Patrick to connect, the default message that LinkedIn offers me is "I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn."

Apparently not everyone has learned by now that people tune in to WIFM--"What's in it for me?" So now when I send invitations, I change the default text to something more focused on the other person: "Would you like to network on LinkedIn?"

It's the difference between an official telling you, "I need you to fill out this form," which makes me want to respond, "I don't really care what you need," and that same official saying, "Would you please fill out this form?" Same basic message, but focused on the other person.

Oh, and by the way, if you want to write me a recommendation on LinkedIn but you don't know what to say, please let me know. I have some helpful suggestions for you, too.