LinkedIn Is For Creeps, So What Can You Gain From Using It?

Like many of you, I have a complicated relationship with LinkedIn. I don?t like it, but I also have to use it. In Social Media Is Bullshit , I said people who use LinkedIn were ?f—ing creepy?. And you know what? I stand by that. LinkedIN is a creepy service used mostly by creepy people to creepy ends; however, as I also said in Social Media Is Bullshit, if your target customers / current customers are using a particular platform, and you have the time, resources, and plan for the use of that platform, it?s worth having a presence there to complete that plan.
My plan for LinkedIn is a simple one: I know third party testimonials are critical to selling products, and LinkedIn allowed me to export my contacts into an easily searchable database. This then allowed me to make an organized effort to solicit honest testimonials about my book that can be used in promotional material and on the Social Media IS BS website. See? Specific purpose behind being on the platform. Specific plan of action for what I?m doing while using that platform. There?s none of this ?engagement?, ?awareness?, and ?community? nonsense where I?m stuck relying on phony metrics to measure success. Instead, it?s just a simple plan.
Once the plan has been finished? I no longer have any use for LinkedIN beyond having a profile solely for the SEO (search engine optimization) benefits. And honestly? These days I just dump links into LinkedIn to send a signal to Google?s algorithm that will help determine how those links will rank on search engine results pages. I don?t really use it beyond that now that I?ve started working on my new project, Dracula And Kittens, and the majority of you out there who don?t publish content don?t need to keep a LinkedIn profile for that purpose.
To the platform?s credit, LinkedIn does serve a couple of uses you should be aware of. For example, it is true that if you?re looking for a job, LinkedIn can be helpful. In fact, according to their most recent 2013 numbers, a li