LinkedIn is theoretically governed automatically by a human-derived algorithm. Much in our life is this way and along with LinkedIn incorporating AI, this will explode further.

Humans are antiquated, it seems. Ask HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey. He was so much more self-impressed than the people he was designed to support. He got out of hand and took the reins. We became the horsepower, him the brains.

Am I on a tangent? No, not really.

If I report a spurious connection request from (get this! It’s the truth) a revealingly dressed Harvard-educated, corporate senior marketing manager for a Fortune 100 company who now cuts hair in Ghana, and I advise them this seems really odd in so many ways, the first reply is that they will look into it (automated) and the second message is that it’s not odd.

I differ with this. It is odd. It makes no human sense. It may be mathematically possible but c’mon folks, this is just plain weird.

So I block them and minutes later another one comes through, different picture, different company but same everything else. I report it, they evaluate and then reject my reporting it.

Do you think they also can compare one to the other and admit it made 2 mistakes?

The algo is always changing, and LinkedIn does not always tell us how. So to preempt the algo, we seem to fight invisible demons.

I won’t. The other day I replied to a post from a colleague who suggested we reply to comments on LinkedIn within an hour. I said:

Agree completely, to answer in a timely manner, but no need to make yourself nuts just to feed the algo within 1 hour of its last meal.
More importantly: I suggest we all be thankful to the sender and reply in the ways of my 4 C’s:
– concise with rich wording,
– cogent with your insights,
– consistent with your branding, and
– compelling for them to want to know more to engage with you. These are all human ways to be amazing-er than your competitors.

The algo may no longer require speedy replies. It should reward intelligent comments (not emojis) and congratulate meaningful conversations.

F the algo I’ve said here before. (In doing so you may need a helmet.)