True, the Linked-In report might have turned some people on to a nice resource that they were otherwise unaware of…but does it have to be done in such a trivial, content-free manner accompanied by such self-righteous bleating?

Baaaaa.

While I see WHERE you are coming from, I have to disagree a bit.

While LinkedIn may be familiar to us in the communications and business world, it certainly is not familiar to everyone as evidenced by the people featured in the story.

The broad appealing story for LinkedIn, IMO, is that people can have an inside connection to find jobs (in this economy it is especially pertinent).

Sure, it does many things, but how many people would care about “keeping in touch with business contacts” as opposed to finding a job?

Like I said, I think they missed the mark on the story and it wasn’t the best, but I think the good intention was there (giving people a leg up to find jobs in a tough economy.) They billed and built up the story and, obviously, people looking for jobs aren’t aware of LinkedIn.

The story also gave a solid example of a person using the tool to find a job, so even though it may have been useless to me and you it wasn’t useless to everyone.

Brent Diggins
Mindspace PR

With the pressure to put more news in a rundown, you’ll never get a complete full story unless its a sweeps-investigator package, and even then, its been edited and picked at for weeks, including by legal.

The most important point in this story is it got people who may have never heard of Linkedin to at least think about it, learn about it or go online to type it in and see what it may involve.

Oh, also, if this story ran on the weekend, that means there was a skeleton crew at that…and maybe the reporter had one hour to get info for this story and have it written before sending to the editor. Easy to say they missed a lot, but main point was “Linkedin” could be another way to find a job.

Yes, they are trying to have more ‘news you can use’ type stories, so I give them credit for this. But maybe they could have added some stats, showed the list of local LinkedIN networks and alumni groups, and how to connect to them. None of this fits the *formula* of course, so I pity the poor reporter. Let’s give her a break.

I will comment, however, as the (volunteer) communications leader for the nonprofit Scottsdale Job Network, whose leaders have used LinkedIn since the platform came out and which has multiple online groups (including the SJN LinkedIn Group) AND also provides local workshops on the use of LinkedIn for job search support.

The NEWS is that LinkedIn FINALLY added Facebook-like applications this week, not that LinkedIn exists.

The NEWS is that Phoenix recruiters are moving toward being in sync with other markets and using LinkedIn to source candidates.

The NEWS is that an unfunded, all volunteer, nonprofit organization is providing more cutting edge support to skilled metro Phoenix job seekers than other organizations receiving large sums of taxpayer and/or grants funding.

SJN volunteers have pitched stories on how technology and social media have changed the job search process to a variety of local media, including the Republic, and they’ve chosen to ignore the story. ABC15 is at least looking for new story ideas and deserves credit for the multiple stories they’ve done on tips to help people find a job in a tough economy.

The reporter clearly doesn’t understand what she’s covering and it shows in the story. Did she show or explain how LinkedIn works? No. Did she even bother to call LinkedIn for an explanation? No. Or call a third-party such as a local HR person or corporate recruiter? No. She interviewed some guy on the street!

This day and age, these sorts of stories need to also link to *useful* web content. Being useful to people is how you keep audience share and build traffic to your website. Instead they sent it all to LinkedIn first.

This story (with a better explanation of how LinkedIn works) could have linked to a quick tutorial on the ABC15 website. If I’m looking for a job, I’m grateful to 15 for pointing this out and showing me how it works. That builds relationships and brand loyalty.

PR people — start hustling — the bar is very VERY low!