Keeping the Peace

‘Please Introduce Yourself’ is a fairly common discussion thread used by groups on LinkedIn. As you can quickly deduce from the title of this discussion the point is to share a little bit about yourself with your colleagues. It is the online equivalent to introducing yourselves with a two or three minute ‘elevator’ speech at an in-person networking event.

Imagine my surprise when I saw an entry in the ‘Please Introduce Yourself’ area of a group which said something along these lines:

“I don’t understand the point of introducing myself here can’t you all just read my profile?”

Now the person who posted this comment is technically correct. Each time someone joins the group the rest of the group can certainly go and look up their profile. Posting an introduction is a nicety. Or it is meant to be.

The facilitator of the group responded with a very tactful statement about the purpose of the ‘Please Introduce Yourself’ thread. Upon reading this the new group member posted this reply:

“Oh I see, thank you for making me aware that my profile is so inadequate.”

And that is an example of being LinkedOut on LinkedIn.

And in another group, a member signs her name using a specific professional title. She is not the only person who uses this title, it was not the first time most of us had seen the title and it will certainly not be the last.

The woman using the title was contributing to a conversation. Her name and title were part of her signature which displays with each post she makes. For some reason one group member noted the use of the title and launched a verbal attack against her. This hijacked the original discussion and quite frankly the entire discussion thread took a very ugly turn. People jumped in and began to support one side versus the other. Personal comments were made about people who use such and such a title and personal comments were made about other people being judgmental.

This too was an example of being LinkedOut on LinkedIn.

As with email, there is not always a tone in a discussion group posting. Unless you are posting videos, we cannot see or hear one another. This statement: “Oh I see, thank you for making me aware that my profile is so inadequate.” might really be an expression of thanks or it might be a sarcastic barb.

Healthy professional debate and idea sharing is a major benefit of discussion groups. Remember the idea is to network, to contribute to others and to expand our horizons, to build links not to break links.

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