Jun 17, 2016

Sebastian Benthall on Why “Weird LinkedIn” Never Happened

From The Ringer

Why Weird LinkedIn Never Happened

By Alyssa Bereznak

Four years ago, something funny happened on LinkedIn. Following the company’s introduction of an endorsement feature — a tool that allowed you to publicly vouch for your friends’ skills — users started getting weird. Alongside stiff areas of expertise like “management” and “programming,” people started recommending their connections for skills like “pole-dancing,” “awesomeness,” and “general awesomeness.”... Tellingly, “endorsement bombing” was probably the most exciting thing that ever happened on the low-fat Yoplait of a social network that is LinkedIn....

There are plenty of theories as to why LinkedIn failed as a social network, but buried in that question is something deeper: How is LinkedIn, an online network of millions that’s ripe for trolling, the one place the weird internet never planted its flag?...

“I think people are worried about their online reputation and if they’re going to be super silly, they’re going to want to use a pseudonym,” said Sebastian Benthall, a Ph.D. candidate at Berkeley’s School of Information who published a study on Weird Twitter in 2013.

Benthall also notes that the social network is based on varying degrees of restricted access: The amount of people you can see, direct message, and stalk without leaving internet crumbs is directly connected to how much you’re willing to pay per month.

“Weird communities arise in commercial social network sites when there is enough slack in their design to allow for creative repurposing of the site,” Benthall said. “[LinkedIn]’s not really a public forum, so the most you could do is have a funny profile.”...

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Last updated:

October 4, 2016