Don’t Be Cringe and Ask For Dates on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the place to make business connections and establish thought leadership. With over 830 million users, it is the biggest platform for professionals out there. LinkedIn is a platform for building professional and business relationships, but not romantic ones.
I really don’t understand, Why it is so difficult for people to understand that LinkedIn is not a dating website? I see that phrase show up in my news feed a few times a year and I wonder who these people are that will ask strangers on LinkedIn for a date. I seen many individuals wasting their time and LinkedIn potential by trying to flirt with other users.
Attempting to use LinkedIn as a platform for your love life comes with serious pitfalls. First, you will look like a creep, turning off potential recruiters, clients, or leads. Even “compliments” that may seem harmless to the sender could come off as creepy to the recipient, so avoid sending those types of messages.
In fact, many LinkedIn users find it irritating when they accept a connection request from someone only to be hit on. Some members say that even the instant hard sales tactic is not as annoying. Even if you do use it to try and get a date, your chances of getting rejected are high.
I have been engaging more actively on LinkedIn over the last 3 or 4 years and have received a higher number than usual of connection requests than in the past. I do not accept every request I receive. I do review requests and have my own set of criteria I normally use to determine if I will accept a new connection.
The majority of the requests I receive are because someone has seen one of my articles or posts and we have something in common professionally — I get a lot of requests from my students who attended my trainings/guest lectures, former colleagues, people in Healthcare, leadership, learning and development, recruiting, etc. These I welcome. What I do not welcome are the connection requests from someone who then turns the connection into an attempt to have a virtual cyber date.
Job seekers, Career coaches, marketing experts, CEOs, and professionals from different industries all agree: LinkedIn is not a dating site. While this social networking site is designed to help you build professional relationships, it’s not meant to build romantic ones.
Like all social networks, LinkedIn has a set of unwritten rules that members should follow. “LinkedIn etiquette” helps you stay out of trouble. Following these rules also helps you build stronger professional relationships because other users view you as a respectful and responsible individual.
What sets LinkedIn apart from other social networking sites is that it has a strictly professional focus. It’s not as “social” as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram where you can share pictures of your pets. It is also not built as a dating app.
If your goal is to find a date, it is better to stick with the apps that are dedicated to that function. You may use Tinder, OKCupid. See how many choices there are? You will have much better luck there.
If your primary purpose of using LinkedIn as a dating app, you’d be wasting valuable time. But if you want to find more career opportunities, or build your brand, or develop your professional network, LinkedIn is the best platform to use.
From a perspective of a male, let me tell you something. I’m using LinkedIn as a professional networking tool. Not looking for anything romantic. If a person (girl/boy/male/female) joins this platform it never means that he/she is available to date you.
The message is both for Male & Females. No one is exceptional. Every now and then I see dozens of posts on harassment. If you think its issue with only Men, you are totally wrong, its everywhere. I been on LinkedIn long enough. I seen, listened, learnt and experienced lot of such incidents happening to both Males & Females. Men and women view online harassment in dramatically different ways.
When using LinkedIn, keep in mind that it is a professional network. Therefore you should always post professionally and positively. Used correctly, LinkedIn can help you expand your network, build your brand, and find new career opportunities.
Again, please bear in mind that this is not a dating website. Please do not destroy the excellent concept of this platform which promotes international networking. Thank you very much.
How about you? Have you ever been propositioned on LinkedIn?
Please feel free to share your story and any lessons you learned, experienced, you came across in your life in the comments below. If you enjoyed this or any other posts, I’d be honored if you’d share them with your family, friends, and followers!
If you wish to follow my journey outside of my writing, you can find me on LinkedIn and Facebook
