Years ago, I joined LinkedIn. Back then, it was a new service and all of the cool kinds were joining.
If you’re not sure, LinkedIn (according to its website) is a place for professionals to connect and be successful. Basically, it’s the social network for nerds.
Honestly, I didn’t see much use for it as I already had a job and there really wasn’t much else you could do on it.
But I wasn’t bothered by the professional social network until my most recent ex kept trying to “link” with me, even after I declined his offers several times.
I didn’t understand why he wanted to connect via LinkedIn; I’d already blocked him from Facebook and there’s basically no “creeping” you can do on LinkedIn — unless you’re really into professional headshots.
After he kept sending me invitations to connect, I decided I didn’t need LinkedIn that bad. After all, those spam emails were really annoying and seeing his name repeatedly was more stress than the network was worth.
So I deleted my account (which still doesn’t completely rid your chances of getting spam email).
About six months ago, I decided to resurrect my account, as I figured it would help my job search. A fellow professional in the industry told me I had to have a profile on LinkedIn.
Desperate times really do call for desperate measures.
Within weeks, my very same ex tried to connect again. And again, I deleted his invitation.
Bye, Felicia.
But I saw something even more disturbing in my LinkedIn inbox: a message from a former hookup.
“I don’t want to be rude but is there a reason you’re adding me? You’re not very friendly to me when I see you around town.”
Is this really happening over LinkedIn?
This was a guy who I strictly hooked up with in college. Weeks before, I used LinkedIn’s invitation feature, which allows users to connect with all of their Facebook friends who are also on LinkedIn.
He got my invite by default.
For starters, I didn’t realize getting added to someone’s LinkedIn profile was so exclusive.
Secondly, there’s the part about seeing each other around town. I’ve seen him one time, and he was with his wife, at Zapp’s Beer Fest. I was already drunk, and I did say hello, with what I thought was a smile.
What’s a girl to do? Did he want a red carpet welcome complete with America’s Best Dance Crew?
An article from Inc5000 last year suggested that LinkedIn was a great place to meet potential dates due to its large database, along with its available information including where the person went to school and their current occupation.
Like many dating websites, LinkedIn also shows users who viewed their profiles (and even what day).
Dating, or even flirting or contacting exes, on LinkedIn just seems completely wrong. It’s mixing business with pleasure, and Monica Lewinsky has taught us all many lessons about how that scenario ends (ahem, with a dry cleaning bill).
Further investigation led to my discovery of LinkedUp, which is a Tinder-ish app that taps into users’ LinkedIn accounts.
I digress.
So far, LinkedIn has tremendously helped my job hunt, so I’ll give it that. But as for dating, I think I’ll keep my apps separate.
The Bitter Lemon 