[TheForge] [META] Re: Invitation to connect on LinkedIn Spam?)

[Mike Spencer]

> Personally, I don't consider a single link to a social network
> created by a list member to be spam...

As far as I can tell, this particular instance occurred because of a
calculated cute trick by LinkedIn.  It appears that LinkedIn
encourages a new user to upload whatever passes for an "address book"
-- all the email addresses know to them, from any time, any place.

Then LinkedIn automatically sends an "invitation" to all those
addresses. The TOS, somewhere in small print, probably says that you
agree to this.  There may even be an opt-out button hidden under some
pile of digital detritus.

I recently got such an invitation from a high school class mate of
whom I have no recollection whatever. I only recognized the name
because I sent a little bio to the 50th (!) class reunion and got a CD
with photos and all the other bios in return. This particular person
is the only member of our class that looks, at age 70, like a sexy babe
of 40 so.  She has major chops in the world of Barbie doll
collectors. 

And this person wants me to join her "professional network" on
LinkedIn?  Hardly.  Nah, LinkedIn just engineered it so's to sucker
users into providing addresses for an auto-spam operation masquerading
as a "service to our clients".

> Sent from my android device.

It's like that: spammish bits generated by some "service" and snuck
into your digital world on your behalf by engineers working for
marketing droids. 

Sent from my DecWriter II. So there.


- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                                           /V\ 
mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^