Five LinkedIn Tools I Need Right Now

May 30, 2008 · Comments

Mario Sundar SnapsAlright, Mario, listen up. I need the following five tools from LinkedIn, and I’m going to ask everyone in my community to chime in and tell you what they might need, too. Sure, you might not be able to get me these all by close of business Friday, but let’s see how much we can manage, okay?

A Cork Board

I need a LinkedIn cork board, where I can put sticky notes to remind me to write C.C.’s recommendation, and where I can put John Swords’ hiring need details. It’ll be where I remind myself to swap out my pic next time I have a moment. AND, I want to be able to allow friends to put sticky notes up there without seeing mine. (So, two boards.)

Groupings

I want private groupings within my address book. I don’t think alphabetically. Do you? I need LinkedIn to let me group my media friends together, my enterprise IT friends together, my friends who live around Philadelphia. And I want multiple groupings for the same contacts.

Commenting

What if I could add a layer of metadata to my entire LinkedIn profile? I might want to tell stories around the details, or layer in how many projects I used to do back in the old days. I got the idea by looking at the FriendFeed tools. In fact, what if the recommendation tools were a bit thinner. They’re not super difficult now, but it’d be amazing how many more “thumbs up” votes you’d get if that were a click versus a written recommendation. (Maybe layers of voting in that case?)

Visual Data

I need to SEE how people connect, and where they are the hub and where they are the node. Even if the other people don’t choose to expose all their contacts, I might get a sense of someone I need to reach being accessible in different ways, instead of you providing me just a link. It would also be instant “influencer” candy, especially if you could do things like show “velocity of connections” and “frequency of logins and updates” in a dashboard way, too.

Ask anyone and they’ll tell you that LinkedIn feels relatively static. This one dynamic would offer a sense of motion that wasn’t there before, and would provide me with data as to how FRESH someone’s efforts are.

An Open Platform

Oh, you mentioned that one back in June of 2007. I’d love to see this happen. Why? Because frankly, you’re sitting on some HUGE opportunities, and they can be monetized, and you could be generating revenue, and I would be willing to pay for features that you’ve not rolled out yet.

What’s Your Take?

As the need for better social network tools and more robust networks come about, I believe the “needs” I’ve listed above are only the starting point. What do you think? What’s your wish list for LinkedIn? Do you think I’m too far off base with my wishes?

And by the way, I really really really admire Mario Sundar and believe that LI owes him more than what they’re paying him, no matter what that number is.

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  • Well, maybe I have it all wrong, but repeatedly I visit linkedin to contact someone, but often can't find any contact information, even after I am logged in.

    I always felt that connecting was the point of LinkedIn. I know it's a complex issue, but if I am logged in and I am linked to you, show me the contact info!
  • Jim, you can export all of your contacts email addresses from the bottom of the contacts page.

    What I'd really like to see? An ability to edit a company profile page. At least factual information.
  • Linkedin is basically evil. why is it illegal to use a screen name? Then their users would not get unsolicited recruiting calls. I would like a tool that prevents Linkedin from selling my employees profile information to recruiters. the users are the product of linkedin not the customers. I would like a tool that prevents Linkedin from publicly noting who in my company gets a promotion because now the other members of the group may be more susceptible to a recruit call. I would like a tool that protects my employees from recruitment if I am paying LI to help hire employees. Even head hunter ethics say you cannot recruit from the same companies you work with as clients.
  • The primary reason I visit LinkedIn is for the Q&A, and I think it could do with a few enhancements:
    1. Add Answers link/menu-item in mobile version and outlook/firefox toolbars
    2. Update me when new answers are posted to a question that I have responded to, kinda like "Notify me of followup comments via e-mail" that this blog has (makes it very easy to follow the conversation)
    3. Allow posting links in Questions like you do in Answers

    Besides that, I second "Groupings" and "Commenting"
  • I'd like to be able to make notes about people, so I can remember things about them. Chris likes peanutbutter, while Matt is a Trekkie. Jill and I met at PodCamp Boston, where she introduced me to Jack.

    In addition, I'd like events to be added. I'd like to be able to tie people to events, whether they do so or not. Since I met Jack and Jill at PodCamp Boston, I'd like to make note of that - even if they don't note it themselves.
  • Yes, definitely a place to put notes about how you know somebody, when you met them and where. And built-in reminders to help people keep in better touch with their network.
  • I'd like to see some integration with Highrise, from 37signals.
  • I second, or third, the ability to add notes or other meta data about my contacts. I'd also love a longer window (or none at all) before my "What are you working on?" status resets. Thanks Mario (and Chris).
  • Updates on answers, making the what are you doing a twitter feed, meta data on profile.
  • I haven't been able to contact almost anyone through Linkedin without being asked to pay a fee. I feel like it should be easier to contact people using this service without paying for it.

    I think Linkedin is a great way to use social networking in a professional context. I often feel like I am crossing a line by trying to contact people on facebook.
  • I'd like it so LinkedIn would "subscribe" to my resume, on my own site, and both import the data from my website and keep itself up to date with any changes I made to my resume, on my site.

    (I don't want to have to manually enter my resume info into their site, or have to manually update my resume info on their site either.)

    My resume is marked up with the hResume Microformat, so it should be straight forward for them to do this.

    -- Charles Iliya Krempeaux
    http://changelog.ca/
  • My top feature request would be the ability to easily recommend to 2 of my connections that they should meet each other. There are dozens of great opportunities waiting to happen in each of our networks. We could be cross-pollinating these relationships.

    Kind regards,
    Justis Peters
  • I wish Linkedin stops storing the emails of my contacts who are not on Linkedin :(
  • More...

    A calendar function. I'd like to be able to make notes that tell me to call this person on a certain day, or that that person said to get back to them "In June." If you could integrate this with Google Calendar, or some other calendar servives, that'd be great.

    Contact Details: It'd be nice if I could tell people that it's best to contact me during certain hours. Sure, you can do that now, but it'd be nice is the times would adjust based on the time zone that the viewer is in. If I'm in Seattle, my New York contact's 10 AM becomes 7 AM, but if I'm in Bulgaria it becomes 5 PM.
  • I find there is quite a lot of out-of-date information among my LinkedIn contact base. For example, some users have obviously lost their login data and never logged back in, others have setup new accounts upon starting new roles.

    I think there might be a nice way to incorporate a button where a user can let LI know that one of their contact's profiles is out-of-date and should be updated. This could allow LI to prompt that person directly and try to re-engage the user back into the system. Privacy issues considered, it might be possible to re-invite that person back in, if it means being able to supply a known active e-mail address.
  • Wow! 15 comments already.

    I hope you understand the huge time constraint you've put me under :)

    As you know, Chris, we're listening. Some of these request have been asked more often than others. I'll continue monitoring this thread for further comments and will definitely compile and send these across to my colleagues at LinkedIn.

    Readers who'd like to stay tuned to the latest on LinkedIn may feel free to follow me on twitter as well

    http://twitter.com/mariosundar
  • BTW, Chris, Thanks a million for those kind words. Much appreciated.

    Too bad, we couldn't meet when you were in the Bay Area recently. Are you gonna be at BlogExpo?
  • Notice that Elvis has just left the building!

    No, seriously, when a contact disconnects, or leaves LinkedIn, it would be nice to get some sort of message that says:

    Vincent is no longer connected with you.

    I only get a clue when I see the number drop but usually don't have any idea who it was.
  • Some great ideas already listed, don't think I could argue with any of them.

    For me:

    Definitely concur with the idea of being able to more effectively monitor/update/remove the dormant contacts.

    On a more general note I'd like to see LinkedIn become more...um...actively interactive. At the moment while I have connections and a network there seems less impetus towards an active and communicative network. Q&A is excellent, but wonder if groups might be being underused (...albeit it may be me underusing groups).

    #1 thing is definitely a note-taking ability though. That extends to notes about individual contacts, Q&A discussions, groups, etc.
  • Nancy B
    Since Kathie commented first I'll join the discussion too :-)!

    Top 5 things I don't do on LinkedIn:

    1. Share content on a topic.
    Q&A is nice but for a better understanding the new FriendFeed rooms rock! Ask, answer, share, explore

    2. Converse within a group
    Stopping at the Q&A level feel disconnected as a community boundry.

    3. JibberJobber Notes
    Making the connection between what resume / profile version was shared with whom for what position would be awesome if there was better integration.

    4. Group and Message contacts by type (of my choosing)
    As a PMO manager I longed to be able to do more with my screen recruiters as a group and 'un-vetted' recruiters as a different group. LinkedIn almost has the right set of features to support that kind of interaction... kins of.

    5. Multi Level Influencer engagement during beta and during calm.
    At this time in my career I do not do mass hirings as I have in the past, but I still use the tool almost daily. What appears to my eye to hopefully be A/B testing is really black box and I would love to know "is this on purpose or is it broken?" I would love to know who the respected power users are and that I can trust thier answers in Q&A when things 'get twitchy.' I would love to catch the buzz from the LinkedIn 'superlinkeer people' forum and see thier pride in suggestions being realized. Mario does a great job at his sphere of influence, and those employees who participate in GetSatisfaction rock! but there is a viral opportunity missing in the community of users that would make me feel more loyal to LinkedIn as a brand... but I am digressing into a response that Adam Nash deserves directly.
  • I think it would be great to have an Events section. Allow people to post conferences, meetings, etc. There would have to be a way to categorize them by type of event, target audience, location, etc. I think it would be a great way to advertise and share information with people who might be interested.

    I'd like to be able to see the last time someone logged into the system. I know of many people who created profiles in response to an ivitation but then never used the site again. It would give you a hint as to how current the information is.

    I like the ability to add comments to profiles and also dates and reminders. It'd be nice to get a reminder that it's someone's birthday, anniversary, when they have a speaking engagement coming up, etc.
  • I placed the comments on your post on my blog. Summarized I would say that LinkedIn should focus on the way it is presenting the contacts and the social network behind it.
  • Hmm... I'm not so sure I'd like to have the news of a disconnection broadcast to the disconnectee. I don't want to feel like I'd have to explain why I cut the wire. But YMMV.

    I'm all for meta information - including tagging, both my own profile and others. And then it would be great if I could conduct group functions on any of my contacts that had a particular tag.

    And I'll echo Monica Hamburg's request for new "How do you know Chris" categories -- or just making that part optional (all of which might be taken care of with tagging, come to think of it).

    Incidentally, I commented on her post suggesting the new categories should be:

    - Personal friend
    - Family member
    - Colleague
    - Business friend
    - Partner (you’ve done business together)
    - Members of an organization
    - Blogging buddy
    - Creepy high school acquaintance
    - Can’t remember, too embarrassed to admit it
    - Got drunk together at conference, messed around, not sure how far it went
    - Got drunk together at conference, messed around, absolutely horrifically certain how far it went
    - Someone who was willing to Digg my blog post
    - Frequent teammate in flame wars
    - Let’s face it, I don’t know them… but they’d be one hell of a trophy friend
  • I'd like to see a "recommendations from your connections" page so colleagues and friends could post what they're reading, where they've eaten (when on the road) and what sites they visit for information.

    The calendar idea is a good one too. I'd like to see what upcoming events my colleagues are attending or my groups are hosting.
  • Groupings - I'd like that in Twitter, too!
  • Absolutely an open platform. That is far and away a necessity b/c then all of the other features / capabilities people want automagically get built.
  • I do not have anything to add, at least now that I read through the comments! Heh. What a giant list of great ideas!
  • For me, LinkedIn is like the savings account you keep banking funds in but don't really know what to do with yet. You feel like someday it will really amount to something, and it looks good on paper, but now what?

    I would suggest working with Common Craft to produce a video on how to get the most out of LinkedIn. What can I do with it that I'm not already doing? This may be especially useful after you put in some of the suggested changes from the comments to Chris's post...

    Here's a link to Common Craft: http://www.commoncraft.com/
  • gaeyia
    Rob,
    Why so fatalistic?
    What about: Got drunk together at a conference, messed around, it's magic and we're Tweeting from Vegas?

    ;)
  • I'd like to see more options under the "Invite [x] to connect on LinkedIn" pane. Their current options make me nuts, and there's no way to add in "other" and insert where you know this person. Aggravating.
  • They announced the Company Profiles too early IMHO since the only way to add a company is to send someone and email and hope something happens. I'd like to see this change.
    And yes, it feels static. For example the Groups feature is really poorly designed- you join a Group and nothing happens, you don't get taken to a social network-style page or anything. I like LinkedIn but agree that they are leaving a lot of opportunity on the table.
  • Excellent article, no doubt LinkedIn is indeed sitting on a gold mine, and with just the right additions I can see more people using it to its full potential.

    The cork board and the grouping contacts are two of the best ideas. I'd like to see more in depth coverage of the company's and organizations people work for. Perhaps creating a partnership/community for people to read up on. Anyone can visit the company site, but perhaps adding a commentary system on what employment there is like would be useful for someone looking for specifics needs.

    How about internal IM program? A way for contacts to connect if others are on at the same time, similar to what Facebook has done.

    Just my two cents, but I think you gave LinkedIn some things to think about!
  • Mario P. Lopez
    Hello,

    First of all, congratulations to Chrish Brogan for a very timely article.

    Well, I'd really appreciate to know what Mario Sundar could tell me on the following: Mario... Why the Customer Service staff remains silent after a couple of requests asking them for support regarding a couple of problems on my Home and Contacts Page? What's the matter with them?

    Both pages don't open correctly... the second one opens as a blank page, no names, no links to their profiles, no nothing...

    From Mario to Mario... Can you help me???
  • me
    The feature I want is to block specific users from seeing my profile and or browsing my contacts. I worked with some real jerks and I don't want them browsing my network because we have shared 1st degree contacts.
  • LinkedIn is by far my favorite social networking tool, not because of what it is but because of what it is NOT. It is not a favorite place to post pictures of last night's drunken debauchery (no fart jokes, no beer drinking stories), it is not a good place to display your power pick-up line (go to eHarmony or something), it is not a virtual shill for third party apps ala Facebook (yet), it is not something that contributes to my spam load (thanks). The lack of sucky-ness keeps me coming back.

    For improvements, I think someone earlier mentioned a disdain for headhunter phone calls. Agree. I have started demanding that they invite me if they call me, and my last call came from a guy (no names need be mentioned) who called himself an "open networker". When I accepted his invite, I discovered that he had made his contacts private. Wow, get a dictionary and look up the word "open".

    I realize that if I indicate on my profile that I'm willing to discuss job opportunities, then it is really my own fault. Still, I think there's a violation of my trust since I don't post my work phone number nor do I indicate that it's OK to call me at work. Having a "trust ranking" system for people similar to seller ratings on eBay would be something useful, but I imagine it would be very easy to game the system for political or whatever reasons (but hey, this NEVER happens on eBay:-) Right?). Still, I think this would go a long way toward indicating the difference between true professional associates and the more common "open networkers" who don't really have prior knowledge of the person they are connecting with.

    This really goes back to Chris's idea of layered metadata. A thumbs up/down push button rank with the option of then adding comments (or not) really sounds like a great solution here, and for lots of situations mentioned by others.

    So Mario, just add the simpler ranking system and keep the sucky-ness at bay as long as possible.
  • Being able to group my contacts and being able to add meta data to them are the big things for me.

    I agree with Chris, I don't think alphabetically. Sometimes, I have a question, and I don't immediately know which of my contacts might be best to help me with it. If I could group them, then I could easily go to the group of people that might be able to help me, and pick some. I don't have a HUGE amount of connections, but enough that sometimes I forget about people who I might have wanted to contact about something.

    Being able to add the meta-data to the connections would also help the situation. As others have mentioned, being able to add that data to connections so that my memory is jogged when I look at their info would be quite helpful.

    On another note, I thought that LinkedIn kinda used to let me do this. I used to have different choices for how I know this person, some of which I created. Now, I only have the choices of my positions/companies, and my groups. Am I missing something?
  • Hi Chris,

    Good to see new design of your blog!

    Nice post! And take a look at the comments. A lot of feature requests! After reading I came up with this
    http://bloodcarter.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/lon...

    Just some thoughts about "Feature vendors" as I called them)))))

    Take care,
    Vlad
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