Recently, Ray* (a LinkedIn connection of mine) had some exciting news that he wanted to share. A partner in a local-turned-regional professional firm, Ray sent a LinkedIn group message announcing his firm’s recent expansion and new office location. Complete with images, office address, and a voice of excitement, his message prompted me to reply with, “Congratulations on the new office and continued success!”
Others included in the message posted comments and the overall tone of the conversation was happy, positive, and congratulatory.
That is, until Randy* chimed in and responded:
For some reason, I (Randy) got your congratulations notes you sent to Ray. I know Ray and am connected to him on LinkedIn but I did not participate in the thread congratulating him on the new facility. I don’t know why I got this and am very skeptical that all 4 (or more) of you mistook me for him in any way, shape or form (although I would be flattered) but there it is… Perhaps LinkedIn is screwing up on this; I don’t mind but thought you should know. Also I intend to forward this message to Ray so he is also aware of this crossover/screw-up.
And then the other comments started to pour in:
I’m getting this and I was never part of this thread?
Me too. How does one exit?
Very odd, may the proverbial “End of Days” for LinkedIn. I have no better explanation to offer.
I have no idea how I got attached to this and I can’t seem to get my name taken off…
Well, it appears that you are an involuntary member of a fairly large group.
And on it went.
As I sat in a client meeting, my phone kept buzzing with these message notifications and all I could do is smile.
Poor Ray, with wonderful news to share, had sent a message to 46 of his LinkedIn connections. Our only links to each other were that we were first connections with Ray and all of our (real) names began with the letter “M”. I’m not certain if Ray intended on choosing us M-namers only or if he had something else in mind. Either way, something had gone wrong.
I am certain of one thing: there are many professional LinkedIn users who are still unaware of how social media works.
Let’s break down the issues I found here:
- Yes, LinkedIn is primarily for professionals and professional networking. But it is still a social network and social in nature.
Just like sending a text to multiple people (IE: group text), a Facebook message to multiple Friends (IE: group message), or emailing or BCCing more than one person in an email (IE: potential nightmares and trouble), choosing multiple connections to send a single message to in LinkedIn results in a group message. All replies by participants in this group message will be seen by everyone originally contacted resulting in a multi-participant thread; whether you’d like to be contacted or not. - If you’re using a social network, don’t be cranky when you don’t know how it works.
As the thread continued, I could see several participants “leave” the conversation. That’s when the remainders started to complain that they couldn’t “seem to get their name taken off”. The tones of these comments seemed to blame Ray and even suggested this issue was the fault of LinkedIn. In actuality, all the participant had to do was Google “How do I leave a LinkedIn Group Message?” and they would have been on their way. (By the way, it’s very simple. Click on the ellipses at the top right of the message and choose “Leave conversation”. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!) - If you’re sending a group message, make sure you’re contacting those you really want to talk to (and that they want to hear from everyone you’ve included).
As I said previously, I’m not sure if Ray really wanted to send his news to just the Mary’s, Mikes, Marty’s, Martha’s, Mark’s, and Marnie’s in his contact list or not. I’m kind of cool with that if he did. I’ve always enjoyed being a “Mary” and now wonder if he would receive different responses based on the first names that people have. But as the thread rolled on and Ray stayed silent to those responding with irritation, skepticism, and cantankerous feelings, it was clear something had gone wrong. - When you’ve obviously confused your friends, colleagues, and professional contacts, own up to it.
Since announcing his good news, Ray has descended into silence. He has not left the conversation so I know he’s getting the same updates that I’m receiving. But he has not explained or clarified what his intentions were and where things went wrong. Maybe this is because he’s too busy with the expansion. Maybe he isn’t sure what he did wrong in the first place. He could be embarrassed and not sure what to say. Maybe he just doesn’t care. In any event, the group has been left crying in his absence and this has tarnished the nature of the good news he originally shared with all of us.
At the end of the day, I can clearly see where everyone’s confusion has stemmed from. But I have no plans to leave this conversation. After all, I now have 44 new M-Name potential connections that may be beneficial to me one day (and hopefully beneficial to them too).
But I will leave you with words of wisdom Randy posted in our LinkedIn adventure-message as they did turn out to be prophetic and true:
If it is of any comfort, it appears that you are not alone in this. It seems that you are part of a fairly sizable group. The only words of wisdom I can offer are - be very cautious about what you say on LinkedIn since the world may be included in your conversation.
*As in Fargo, the events depicted in this post took place on LinkedIn in July 2016. Out of respect for the participants, the names have been changed. The rest has been told exactly as it occurred. You betcha.
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