Wendy et al.,

I am somewhat relieved to hear someone express doubts about the way LinkedIn endorsements work. I was not aware of the particular problems Wendy describes, and I thank her for making me aware of them. My doubts however, are much more fundamental.

I have received numerous endorsements from colleagues I know personally and who know what skills and experience I have, for which I am grateful. However, I have also received endorsements from people who, whilst indeed being LinkedIn Contacts, I have neither met nor worked with. They would appear to have endorsed me on the basis perhaps of having read my Profile, or possibly through reputation from contacts held in common, though I doubt the latter. Either way, such endorsements are based on 'hearsay', not on any direct personal knowledge of my competences. I suspect these endorsements occur simply because LinkedIn prompts us to endorse a random selection of our Contacts and we don't really think it through. So much can hang on a single click.

In my view, this considerably reduces the value of the endorsement system for those at whom (I assume) it is aimed. Presumably, the system is designed to allow third parties requiring people with particular skills to be able to search for them. But if many of the returned results are based upon mere 'hearsay', then is that really so helpful?

And yes, I understand that some might comment that Google searches are based on comparable 'hearsay' criteria, and we seem to be OK with that. Well, while I would hate to contemplate tackling the Web without a tool like Google, that doesn't mean I think it does the best possible job. Google's relevance algorithms do what they do very satisfactorily for the public at large. However, if I were a businessperson needing to make a vital decision based upon precise criteria, then I would approach a Google result set with caution. I suggest that we would be wise to do the same with result sets in LinkedIn derived from Endorsement data.

Rant over!

Regards,

KPXL Signature Bob
--------------
Bob Bater
KnowPlexity Ltd.

On 02/07/2013 22:36, Wendy Warr wrote:
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Colleagues,

 

I expect that most of you have been bombarded with emails about endorsements on LinkedIn but I wonder how many of you know about the duplicate endorsement bug. I am only allowed 50 skills. I am already over the limit. If someone endorses me for Computational Chemistry and another person endorses me for computational chemistry, I end up endorsed for two separate skills. If someone  endorses me for patricide or the Tour de France, those skills go on record too. The end product is not fit for purpose. I might then be modest enough to want to delete my unlikely cycling skills but I am not allowed to do so (because of a bug) until I resolve my many duplicate skills. Unfortunately you cannot merge duplicated skills and if you delete a skill you lose all the endorsements and you are supposed to contact all your friends and ask them  to re-endorse you!

 

Be warned! This whole thing has got out of hand. My thanks, though, to the many people who have endorsed me. Keep up the good work. Maybe the huge number of complaints will encourage LinkedIn to do a fix.  

 

Wendy

 

Dr. Wendy A. Warr

Wendy Warr & Associates

6 Berwick Court, Holmes Chapel

Cheshire, CW4 7HZ, England

Tel./Fax +44 (0)1477 533837

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http://www.warr.com

Skype: wendyannewarr

Twitter: @WendyAnneWarr