Joni Fisher @ 12:51 pm September 3, 2009

THANK YOU! LinkedIn is a fabulous tool and should be viewed as just that. Whether you are an open networker, in search of a job, recruiting or just looking for validation there is no better venue than LinkedIn. I hope that LI members take this to heart as social networking is a “gift” and not a nuisance as never before have we had this type of forum to express ourselves and reach out to others.

How can we help change this and make it “user-friendly” rather than riddled with fear of receiving that call letting you know that you’ve been flagged

Mark Johnson @ 2:48 pm September 3, 2009

Outstanding observation. I suspect it will be spitting into the wind, however. LinkedIn now informs me that I’m close to the limit of “DON’T KNOW” rejections. As far as I can tell, there is no time period for this phenomenon, so the active networker is penalized.
Mark Johnson’s last blog ..Texas Residential Electricity Minimum Prices

Laya Bajpai @ 3:06 am September 4, 2009

Hi Flynn,
Useful advice as ever. I do recall making that error twice that was initially when I started networking. I had no idea, about that being a penalty.
I would like to make ammends if I can. Let me connect with you as I always find your tips useful.

Gery EMONDS @ 7:03 am September 4, 2009

Hi Flynn,

Thanks for sharing your good advice with us.
Can’t we propose to the LinkedIn Management to install an ignore button instead of the aweful I don’t know button ? Skype is doing it, and it works just fine.

Cheers,
Gery.

George @ 5:16 pm September 4, 2009

Hi Flynn,

Not so sure I agree. I often get requests from these 500+ connections-types who read some marketing like you promote.

If they get a few “don’t know” responses, not a big deal. If they get a score or more, then maybe they are abusing the system, and need to be nudged to get back to the spirit of LinkedIn.

As it is, they have made the connections a selfish contest, instead of a way to connect.

and the bottom of the heap, I connect, and they have their conncections “turned off” so others can’t share.

Loek Hopstaken @ 10:36 pm September 4, 2009

You say: you put an actual negative on their account. Now, I’ve never used this facility, but I wonder how I find out if someone has used it with my invitations. What is this ‘penalty’?

Kevin @ 1:14 am September 5, 2009

Ironically I just got the warning and I was somewhat confused and a little irate since I was unaware of who and why? I know that invites can be through the e-mail client I use, in my case outlook, and I do my own vetting of the list, basically if the address shows on my list I am in communication or have a working relation with that contact.
In the last month I have generally made a few invitations and none that I deemed in breach of the conditions, in fact most were not ‘Linkedin’ and are now users via my invite. On receipt of the warning I felt a little concerned, I did as the instructions prompted and lifted the punishment by agreeing to the conditions stipulated.
From this moment on I won’t invite and only accept invites, and like Andrew stated, just disregard, since the ramifications are seemingly harsh and since a second breach will result in being banned. Moreover I won’t invite because if rejected I do not know who and why, in fact I can’t ever invite again:
What if I do invite and the contact person states ‘I don’t know’ in error or as in many cases ‘Linkedin’ is managed by a 3rd party since the owner is busy or has many other tasks and the 3rd party simply rejects non-related contacts without much thought? If I wanted to be malicious or in a bad mood I could seriously jeopardize an account, that is a serious issue from the Who and Why?

John Joseph @ 10:46 am September 5, 2009

Hi Flynn,

Greets.Thanks a ton for informing the intentional and ignorant Linkedin user about the Effects of clicking I Don’t Know-IDK “.option .

A a free networker i too had tried to network with people whom i thought can be leveraged if not now but later stage Just becuase i happned to read thier profile Not reaslising the Linkedin Pernalty or voilation clause ( i’ve to balme myself for it”) >linked in had allowed me to network with others after issuing me a warning .

The after effects of “IDK” -i may end up loosing all my other contacts established /built/natrured all along Just because my good intention toexpand my network met with rebuttal -It would have been nice if people just archive invitaion like most of us do.

These days while sending a request -i humbly request themnot toselect” IDK “.

Hope people are more considerate towards fellow professionals .

Hats off for highlighting it .
cheers and ciao

Lee Tenneboe @ 10:20 pm September 5, 2009

This is the first time I’ve ever seen a post regarding this subject and it is well explained. I would love it if you could post this everywhere you can to get the message out. I do think there are many people who simply are not aware that it is a penalty, and maybe if they realized, they wouldn’t be so quick to mark a “DNK”.
Thanks for all of your informative posts!

Kathryn Tevington @ 5:37 pm September 7, 2009

Flyn, that is very good to know.

Sara @ 7:49 pm September 7, 2009

The only time I used the “I don’t know” option was on some random guy from Pakistan whom I had absolutely no connection to (no shared groups, schools, etc., and I don’t know anyone from Pakistan!). As far as I was concerned, he was just looking to expand his network by asking random people to connect with him. Not good LinkedIn etiquette. Of course at the time I didn’t know people were penalized for getting “I don’t know” responses, but he had no businesses asking me to join his network anyway. However, now that I know that “I don’t know-ing” somebody penalizes them, I will only do it in extreme cases such as this. A lot of people abuse LinkedIn, and the IDK option helps to prevent that.

Sreenath Nair @ 2:59 am September 8, 2009

Well! I Am This Unlucky Person Who Had Been Tagged With the “I don’t know you” option.The Result Of Which is That My Account is Restricted.Now I Cannot send any more invitations To Other Persons.I Cannot Post a Query on Linked in Neither can i reply To any query.Even The Provision of Providing the email Id Of person to whom i want to send an invitation doesn’t work any more.The only 1 wrong thing i had done Was importing his contact list with his knowledge and sending the invitations to the people of the list.The only thing i can do now is sending a message to the peoples to whom i want to add to my list explaining them my situation and asking them to send me an invitation instead.Therefore i request my fellow linked in networkers not to tag anyone with the “I don’t know you” option. Thank you

Flyn @ 8:49 pm September 8, 2009

Sreenath…

You don’t need LinkedIn’s invitation to get connections. I have 2500+ connections and have used only about 200 invites. In fact it’s better if you don’t use it as it forces you to connect in stronger ways. If you or others in this predicament take my course you will see you can thrive without a dependence on invitations. Click the link under my picture and get my success kit which has my mini power networking course in it. It will help you out.

GT @ 10:27 am September 9, 2009

I have a similar question regarding applications to join groups. I launched a new group just for business owners who are interested in a very narrow and specific topic. The description states that the group is for owners only. Now I have a dozen applications for membership from service sellers. I don’t want them in the group because all they do is pitch their products.

I am hesitating to decline these applications and am wondering if they will expire? And after how long?

Too bad there is no Ignore feature for them.

Carl Colaizzi @ 7:50 am September 10, 2009

I agree. I have been “tagged” by linked in for having to many IDK’s. I had 6 out of over 200 invitations sent!!!???

It would be wise to ask the person being invited to simply archive the invitation if they choose not to connect.

Pixelfanatix @ 2:10 am September 13, 2009

I agree with the post completely, why be on networking sites with such attitude. We are all part of a cyber community. Linkedin offers great service yet tries to control spam and invasive actions in ways that I as a paid customer do not appreciate, let’s not add to this ourselves. They change rules, functions and features without even one email announcing such or asking for permission which should be standard especially for those who pay. The nice thing though is when you request for the penalty to be lifted, they usually do immediately with a warning.

http://www.bizculum.com
http://www.pixelfanatix.com

rod @ 5:13 am September 16, 2009

I’ve never really known what happens when you click that button, but I’ve always shied away from it because of the rather harsh language around it (bars this user from ever attempting to connect again).

Just this morning I was invited to connect by someone I don’t know and who just sent the “I’d like to connect” boilerplate. I’m not necessarily against open networking, but, c’mon, put a little effort into it – who are you and why do you want to connect?

I simply replied to him and asked him if we knew each other, which he acknowledged we didn’t.

I don’t have any particular interest in connecting to anyone who values the process that little.

Inday Canoy @ 2:12 am November 19, 2009

Being new on LinkedIn, I find this advice really useful! Thanks Flyn!
Wishing you massive success in all that you do..

Rachel @ 5:10 am June 28, 2010

I’m very glad to know that when I click “I don’t know you”, it in some small way has a negative impact on the person that’s sent me an unwanted and irrelevant ‘invitation’ to connection with them. For the vast majority of targets of such unwanted ‘invitations’, LinkedIn is merely a source of unwanted spam from people they barely know (i.e., recruitment agents, and marketers).

Rachel @ 5:17 am June 28, 2010

PS:

“And remember that many people don’t bother to read or even look at your profile before inviting you – so once again communicate, don’t punish.”

I really need to laugh when I read self-righteous and delusional sentiments like that. You don’t even bother to read the profiles of people you send invitations to, so the onus is on those unwanted and poorly-researched targets of your unwanted spam to respond in a considered way to your clumsy attempts to spam them with whatever message you’re contacting them about? I’ve got news for you – that “I don’t know you” button was *invented* to tackle thoughtless spammers like you, because left to your own devices you’d never in a million years come to understand that your actions are entirely unwelcome and anti-social in the extreme.

Flyn @ 7:18 am July 6, 2010

Rachel

You are correct that participating on LinkedIn opens you to these folks. However, the opportunity here is so great you simply have to work around this obstacle.

I have tons of contacts and I do get inappropriate things sent my way — but not that many. The key is to deal with these appropriately and understand the opportunities they bring.

Flyn @ 7:25 am July 6, 2010

As to your first sentence it isn’t all as bad is it seems.

For example, if you are an Internet marketer you may not find it necessary to read someone’s profile who is also in Internet marketing to want to invite them. If you are a sales person you don’t need to read the profile of a VP of Sales to know that this is a potentially good connection for you.

I am not making a case for NOT reading the profile, I am simply suggesting that it isn’t always necessary at the time.

Remember that in networking their is value in numbers — even the one’s you don’t think you care for. However, a very professional approach is NECESSARY.