Before creating an account and participating on LinkedIn, you should be sure to fully understand the intended use of the site. While LinkedIn is considered a social site, it describes its purpose as the following:
The mission of LinkedIn is to connect the world’s professionals to enable them to be more productive and successful. To achieve our Mission, we make services available through our website, mobile applications, and developer platform, to help you, your connections, and millions of other professionals meet, exchange ideas, learn, make deals, find opportunities or employees, work, and make decisions in a network of trusted relationships and groups.
When examining the statement above, you can see that LinkedIn is meant for professionals.
This is extremely important to recognize when posting and participating on LinkedIn. For example, it may be acceptable to post a status update on Facebook that mentions partying all weekend, but that would not be a wise decision on LinkedIn. In addition to using common sense regarding LinkedIn’s professional nature, you should also be mindful of their full list of “DOS and DON’TS”.
Here are some paraphrased highlights from their full list that can be found by clicking the hyperlink in the previous sentence:
This is extremely important to recognize when posting and participating on LinkedIn. For example, it may be acceptable to post a status update on Facebook that mentions partying all weekend, but that would not be a wise decision on LinkedIn. In addition to using common sense regarding LinkedIn’s professional nature, you should also be mindful of their full list of “DOS and DON’TS”.
Here are some paraphrased highlights from their full list that can be found by clicking the hyperlink in the previous sentence:
- It is imperative that you comply with all laws and use the site in a professional manner.
- It is imperative that all of your information is accurate and that you update it as necessary.
- It is not acceptable to act unprofessional or post anything dishonest or objectionable on the site.
- You should not invite anyone to your network that you do not know
- You should not upload a photo that is not your likeness or a head-shot
- Spam and any unwelcome communication is not tolerate
Should you post something that is inaccurate, that infringes on someone else’s intellectual property, or that is unlawful, or should you notice someone else partaking in this behavior, LinkedIn has outlined a process for dealing with these situations. By simply filling out and turning in the appropriate form, LinkedIn will process and handle each complaint filed.
Finally, it should be noted that LinkedIn also includes company pages. Company pages are created automatically simply by several LinkedIn users listing the same company as their employer. When this happens, your individual profile is listed on the company page, and you are directly linked with your company.
It is also important to note that anyone in the company can update the company’s page until someone takes control and designates an administrator. This is a significant concern for companies since their representation on LinkedIn is not fully under their control until this is done. Given the recent concerns over SOPA, neglecting your company’s page on LinkedIn and allowing someone to misrepresent your company could be extremely harmful. Each company should establish an administrator quickly to ensure that no unwanted changes are made to their page. To do so, the following steps should be taken:
- First ensure that you have a confirmed company email address on your LinkedIn account.
- Navigate to your company’s page
- Click “Edit” in the top right of the Overview Tab
- Select designated users under the “Company Pages Admins” heading
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