atw: Re: LinkedIn endorsements
- From: Howard Silcock <howard.silcock@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2013 11:40:15 +1000
I was about to send a post suggesting that Geoffrey and I were in danger of
becoming the grumpy old men of this list for our views on LinkedIn
endorsements when I saw to my relief that others had similar views! I have
posted to this list before about this subject, suggesting that it makes
little sense to endorse someone for something unless you (a) are familiar
with their work - that is, have actually read documents they've produced or
seen other products of their labours - and (b) have some expertise in the
subject yourself. This makes me more churlish than Geoffrey, because it
implicitly casts doubt on some of the endorsements I've received for skills
I do have, as well as obviously implying that endorsing for skills I don't
have is just ridiculous. But Michelle's description of what the process
actually involves is very interesting.
Howard
On 1 June 2013 10:44, Bill Parker <bill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:
> And just to show how silly this whole bloody Linkedin thing is I have put
> in my profile "Morris Dancing" ( because I do). I completed that and then
> found myself ( no idea how) with pages and pages of people with similar
> interests. What? Morris dancing? How can that be?
> Bill
>
> On 01/06/2013, at 6:18 AM, Geoffrey wrote:
>
> Hello austechies****
> ** **
> To the many of you who have endorsed me for skills I do have, thank you.
> To those who have endorsed me for skills I do not have, what on earth were
> you thinking? Are you deliberately trying to frame in the minds of others
> an image of me that I am not? Folks, I am not a copy-writer, I have never
> been a copy-writer, and don’t want in any way to be associated with the
> pernicious black-art of copy-writing (with its screaming intensifications
> and its implicit belittlements that border on psycho-abuse: “you have not
> truly lived unless you have experienced the exhilaration and the sensual
> styling of the all new*Howdie V12*”, “ Go on, be a real mum and give them
> *Caries Flakes* for breakfast and” … you get my drift). So why are some
> you endorsing my non-existent copy-writing skills? A miasma of deception
> commingling with defamation is nettling my nostrils.****
> ** **
> And why are some of you endorsing my software development skills? Crikey,
> I wouldn’t know a class statement if it reared up at me in bloody
> revolution. And the last time I executed a branch, it fell smashingly on
> the neighbour’s fence. Stop it, stop it, stop it. Resist the temptation to
> endorse the dim-witted guesses of that cog-slipping, Watts-driven
> perpetuator of misinformation, that generator of self-aggrandisement,
> called LinkedIn. (Someone admitted the other day, to a table of lunching
> professionals who had met through LinkedIn, that she had touched up her
> LinkedIn photograph to make her look younger. I’m glad she was frank,
> because many of us had been wondering when the other [name withheld] was
> going to turn up.)****
> ** **
> If anyone needs reminding of just how dumb and misleading software can be,
> turn on your Microsoft Word’s grammar checker. The absurdity of the
> recommendations of the world’s reputedly smartest programmers might just
> inspire you to turn off a lot of other software that clogs up our lives
> with pretend knowledge while pick-pocketing our privacy along the way.***
> *
> ** **
> In a word: stop misrepresenting others through thoughtless endorsements.
> It sours morally no less than a deliberate lie. As does photo-shopping a
> glamour you may once have thought you had.****
> ** **
> In a world of lies, thank the gods for Mr Curly and his duck.****
> ** **
> Geoffrey Marnell****
> Principal Consultant****
> Abelard Consulting Pty Ltd****
> P: 03 9596 3456****
> M: 0419 574 668****
> F: 03 9596 3625****
> W: www.abelard.com.au****
> ** **
>
>
>
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