LinkedIn: The No Fun Social Network?
Recently Rachel Levy sparked an interesting discussion on her blog when she posed the question “To Cross-Post or Not to Cross-Post”. Rachel was of course referring to the dilemma some social network users face when deciding whether their Facebook friends want to see what’s happening in their Twitter streams, or their Twitter followers want to see what’s happening in their LinkedIn accounts, or the various other combinations of conversations on one social network finding their way onto another. Todd Clayton & I had similar conversations as we prepared for the recent Defrag conference, and you can see some of the results reflected in Todd’s presentation.
Looking back on some of those discussions and comparing them with the comments that are flowing into Rachel’s post, there seems to be one thing we can all agree on: LinkedIn is the No Fun Social Network. If all the social networks got together for a party, Twitter would be the person who talks a mile a minute, never lacks for conversation starters, and loves meeting new people; Facebook would be having lots of fun conversations with some occasional business ones mixed in, but would generally confine them to people he already knows well; MySpace would be provocatively dressed and flirting with everyone in close proximity…
And finally, over there in the corner would be LinkedIn. He’d stick out like a sore thumb, the stuffy guy in the tweed jacket who confines all conversations to business and has zero sense of humor. Don’t bother trying to say hello to LinkedIn unless you already know him. The only way to meet him is to have an associate in common OR to correctly guess his e-mail address. If you’re fortunate enough to be introduced, you can expect a long spiel about his great credentials and degrees, his career accomplishments, and all the people who recommend him. LinkedIn is a name-dropper if there ever was one.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I think LinkedIn is an invaluable resource that plays a vital role in the social space. There certainly is a need to connect people who want to succeed in their careers and promote their businesses. I’m not suggesting LinkedIn should do anything to change the features I just indirectly described. However, I do believe it’s time for them to have some fun with that image. How easy would it be for LinkedIn to produce a web marketing video with the LinkedIn character doing some wild and crazy stuff that we’d never expect to see? For example, can you imagine LinkedIn recreating the canonball scene from Anchorman? Instant win, right? People love to laugh, and the potential to produce a marketing video that goes viral is always there. Sometimes proving you can laugh at yourself is the secret formula to making everyone stop, take notice, and maybe change their opinion of you. I would imagine content producers like my friend Eric Guerin at SmartMarket Media would have a field day with this opportunity.
My advice for LinkedIn: it’s fine to be the No Fun Social Network, but at least have some fun with it!
