by Dennis J. Pitocco, Featured Contributor
An Open Letter To Linkedin Customer Support
Dear Customer Support:
AS A LOYAL MEMBER AND OWNER of over two dozen Groups with an aggregate membership approaching 44,000 Members, I am writing you on behalf of our communities in hopes that you can respond to us all with a level of authentic custom
er sensitivity by reviewing our concerns carefully and responding with a natural sense of urgency.
From day one, our Group Managers have embraced a precise set of Group Rules and I (as Group Owner) have personally taken great care to ensure a consistent level of high quality “topical” content, high quality professional membership, and constructive engagement. Our quest has been to distinguish “our Groups” from the many others who are plagued by absentee management, spam and complete lack of anything resembling moderation or rule enforcement. We believe that our rapid growth (despite exacting boundaries) has confirmed that our commitment of time and attention to this “road less traveled” approach has merit.
Despite our very disciplined approach discussed above, we are increasingly faced with challenges borne not of management lapses or the absence of moderation, but rather 
of your “technical glitches,” algorithms gone awry, and sudden emergence of the dreaded “blue moderation box.” Not a week goes by now without dozens of our Members questioning us as to why WE are restricting their access, blocking their posts, or simply ignoring their attempts to actively engage in our many professional communities. Why have WE placed them in a Moderation Queue? Why are WE marking their high-quality posts as spam? Why are WE flagging their content for “not being relevant?” Be assured that virtually every one of these esteemed Members have contact you folks (Customer Support), only to be redirected back to us, having been enlightened by any number of incorrect or inconsistent responses, to include:
“Content can be flagged by all group members, managers and owners. Our spam filters will not cause you to go into moderation across all of your groups, however it can prevent the discussion from being posted.”
“If you are in contact with the group owners and/ or manager of the groups you are a member of, you can ask them to allow you to post without moderation. Feel free to send them this link with instructions on how to change posting permissions.”
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience this has caused. I understand the challenges this presents for you, which is why I made sure to convey the impacts of this to our engineering team for consideration. We are always making changes to enhance the member experience and feedback on those changes lets us know what is working and what is not working.”
“To prevent any unnecessary flagging of spam, I strongly recommend that you manually share updates with one group at a time. There are certain ways spambots input information into groups which the system has adapted to recognize. So, we ask members to use certain guidelines in submitting content so they don’t have submissions caught in the spam filter either.”
“I understand your concern. Please keep in mind that if you have ever previously posted in other groups, this content can be flagged from previous posts, whether the post was created 2 days ago or 2 years ago.”
“If you’re experiencing issues posting in your own group, please try a different Internet browser and sign into your account (Chrome 34 and higher are not supported in Groups).”
“Your posts may have been identified by our content filters which could result in them being published on the Promotions tab or not at all.”
“Don’t put the link in the “Title” field when posting a discussion. The link must go in the “Body” field.”
“Make sure the title of the discussion doesn’t exactly match the title for the linked page. For example, if the link title is “New Healthcare rules” ” the discussion title should be something like “New rules for healthcare”. This simple change will help keep your discussions from disappearing.”
“Enter at least some text in the “Body” field along with the link. You can put something like. “This is new.” or “This looks interesting.” This helps the system recognize you’re a human and not a spambot.”
In Good Company? (Adventures Of A Group Owner)
The above responses go on and on…. While you may question the credibility of the Member or their posting behavior, allow me to confirm that they are indeed, in good company, as I personally have been 
victimized by the dreaded “blue moderation box,” and moreover, have been completely “locked out” of Linkedin (more than once) for weeks at a time. And just like our valued Members, I have very diligently opened tickets with your team, only to experience what can best be characterized as the most deplorable, non-responsive and arrogant “service responses” possible. As one whom has operated within the service industry for over three-decades, I’ve learned that the sign of a great company isn’t simply how they perform in a “business-as-usual” environment, but rather how the react when things go wrong. Suffice it to say that Linkedin Customer support has failed miserably in this regard, based on the speed of, lack of, consistency of and caliber of response experienced by me firsthand in recent months. All as a result of following the required Customer Support process. Some examples to illustrate my point:
My Message to Customer Support: I’ve had an open case now for circa 2 weeks, where my Account is fine in the morning and then restricted around NOON for the remainder of the day. As a Group Owner with thousands of Members, I am unable to manage and moderate my Groups with this never-ending issue. Please seem my Open Support Request, which I can no longer Access.
Customer Support Response: I’m sorry for not having a quick answer about accessing your LinkedIn account. I’ve forwarded your message to another group for additional review and advice. We’ll be in contact with you as quickly as possible but your issue may require additional research, which may extend your wait time.
You can always check the status of your ticket by moving your cursor over your profile photo at the top right of your LinkedIn homepage and then selecting “Help Center”. From there, click “Support History” in the top left to see the status of any tickets you’ve submitted.
My Response: I am unable to respond to your Response given that I don’t have Access. I am keenly aware that this issue has happened in the past and consistent with the past episodes, I have promptly responded with confirmation that there are no actions whatsoever on my end that are purposefully taking place to trigger a Restriction. As a Group Owner with dozens of Group Managers and Moderators, I am extremely sensitive to complying with the Linkedin User Agreement. As a consequence, I’ve waited two (2) weeks to learn that a problem not caused by me is triggering a problem that I am therefore unable to resolve. Many of my Managers and fellow Group Owners have experienced this identical issue, and we simply can’t understand how a “High Restricted” status solves the problem. My Groups have gone un-managed and un-moderated as a result of this action which conflicts with our well-established discipline of daily moderation, fresh content, etc.
Bottom line – I am perplexed and frustrated by this unilateral Restriction, absent any discussion whatsoever. As in the past, I am ready, willing and able to respond positively to any steps that must be taken on this end to ensure that this issue isn’t triggered. I’ve repeatedly asked for guidance and responsiveness and have received nothing but adverse warnings. I’ve committed many times to adhere to the Linkedin User Agreement and am recommitting here if that’s what it takes to restore my Access. Please advise as to next steps!
Customer Support Response: We are reaching out to you because we’ve detected an excessively high number of member profiles or pages that are being viewed through your account. We also see that this behavior has occurred many times over the course of your membership with LinkedIn. In order to protect you and our members, your account has been restricted. Please respond to this message and identify any parties, processes, or software involved in these activities that are contributing to the excessively high number of page views through your account. We have also detected an excessive number of unique logins over a very short period of time which indicates scraping of LinkedIn data. Please note that this is not permitted under our User Agreement.
As a result, we’ve suspended your account.
My Response: I have reviewed the Linkedin User Agreement (again). My comment regard inability to respond to this Ticket was directed at being unable to Login to Linkedin Customer Support. I have exhausted by my ability to explain that I have zero Plug-ins, third-party services, etc. connected to my Account. My posts are consistently created via the Linkedin Share Bookmarklet installed within my various Browsers. Certain topics (Articles) are posted to specific Groups based on the content & Group Profile. Broader topics (e.g. Leadership) are often posted across all of my Groups and a number of Groups beyond those that I own. Not sure if this practice is triggering this issue, but it is the only level of “technology” used to support my Groups and my across-the Board linked relationship.
If I need to change my User Name or my Password to eliminate any possibility that any unknown third-party application is accessing my Account, I am happy to do so – if that’s what it takes to finally bring closure to this never-ending issue. With respect to my Group Members, it’s not a matter of “missing me,” it’s a matter of consistent management, moderation and content sharing which over the past several years has become a distinguishing hallmark of my Owned Group/SubGroups. So it’s a “reputational” issue here, which may further support my sensitivity to bringing timely closure. And were it not for a never-ending stream of complaints from my Group Managers and Members regarding their recurring “blue moderation notice” and “lost access” issues, perhaps this sensitivity would be lessened.
As a business professional, I just can’t understand how Group Owners (whom work hard to build and properly manage their Groups) providing clearly Linkedin with significant revenue opportunities via advertising, etc. – can we arbitrarily “shut down” without reasonable discussion/resolution opportunities, particularly when we (in my case) have zero incentive to break any rules or conflict with the User Agreement. Not sure what else I can possible do or say on this end. Please advise ASAP.
Customer Support Response: Having thousands of unique logins and the number of page views is scraping of LinkedIn data and not permitted. I suggest that you review any plug-ins, third party services, etc. and let us know what you find that you are using which may be causing this problem. It does appear you are using something to access our pages outside of your normal browser service. Once we have more information we can review this and assist you further. However, to protect our members we will not permit access until we have more information.
We are sure your group members miss you, and we look forward to finding the answer to what activities you are using on our site. Again, I want to stress that the excessive logins is not in the dozens, it is over a thousand in a very short period of time.
My Response: Been racking my brain to determine where these “third party services” causing profile views was coming from, and as discussed above, they simply do not exist on my end. Please advise ASAP.
Customer Support Response: I’ve gone ahead and removed the restriction on your account. However, please be advised that this is your final warning regarding abuses on the LinkedIn site. If your account is reported again after today’s date, your LinkedIn account may be subject to termination. The actions being taken are putting a large and unnecessary load on our systems.
My Response: Thank you for restoring my access. The “final warning regarding abuses on the Linkedin Site” suggests that (contrary to all of our exchanges), I have been purposely taking actions to conflict with the User Agreement, which has never been the case. Given that this past Restriction took place prior to any discussion or confirmation of abuse, I (as a Group Owner) remain legitimately concerned that a “Termination” even could just as likely be triggered absent any abuse on my part.
Rather than discuss this when it’s too late, is there a forum or Trust and Safety contact with a discussion can be held to ensure that any such items on my record deemed “abuses” can be revealed & discussed?
Customer Support Response: Utilizing a third party service or plug-in which causes harm to our systems is bad and is the responsibility of the user to investigate prior to implementation. Due to the impact on our system and reporting we reserve the right to terminate an account or suspend it depending upon the circumstances of related violations going forward.
In addition this is not a “recent” event. I have researched this further and found similar activity back in October of 2013. In addition we show logins from multiple countries on the same day in October. Sharing access for your account is not permitted under our User Agreement. Being a group owner does not negate one’s responsibility to adhere to the User Agreement.
My Response: Not to prolong this discussion, but there seems to a presumption from your Department that I am purposely violating the User Agreement. To the contrary, I am doing whatever it takes to adhere to the Agreement, which is increasingly difficult when all responses presume that I am guilty of some form of negligent behavior.
And with respect to the log-ins from Multiple countries, my wife and I are world travelers and I naturally login from multiple countries to maintain my Groups. I have reviewed the Linkedin User Agreement you continue to reference and am unable to locate any violation related to the owner of the Account (me) logging in from other countries.
Which brings me back to my original question. Rather than discuss this when it’s too late, is there a forum or Trust and Safety contact with whom a reasonable, objective discussion can be held to ensure that any such items on my record deemed “abuses” can be revealed & discussed?
Customer Support Response: There were multiple logins on the same day which based on the time stamps do not apply to travel.
Respectfully, do not misuse our system and adhere to the User Agreement. That is all. If you want to appeal a decision we can discuss at that time. You have seriously misused the system with the third party service or application. This is your final warning, there will be no further discussion or back and forth at this time. Log into your account and manage it on your own, don’t use other software, apps, etc. except as part of our API program (it will be noted on said applications).
IN CONCLUSION
Allow me to emphasize that from day one, I quickly recognized the inherent “value” of such a marvelous networking platform, and for a price that simply can’t be beat! However, with the passage of time, the “law of diminishing returns” has reared its ugly head in so many ways. Hugh Miller did a great job late last year in capturing such diminishing returns: Why I Quit Linkedin.
And when it comes to Customer Support, you must realize by now that the word “oxymoron” 
comes to mind. Your sporadic advice ranges from elementary to reasonable to inconsistent to just plain wrong. And when we dare attempt to establish a respectful, proactive dialogue to avoid future “technical glitches,” algorithms gone awry, sudden emergence of the dreaded “blue moderation box,” or a complete High Restricted “lock-out,” your customer-sensitive, empathetic response is to issue a final warning and end the discussion? Well, you may be the proverbial “800 lb. gorilla” when it comes to professional networking platforms, but we all know that despite his legendary size, even King Kong ultimately met his destiny.
“It wasn’t the airplanes. It was Beauty that killed the Beast”….
On behalf of our Group Members (now encompassing circa 44,000 professionals across 128 countries) and your rapidly-expanding Linkedin community of unfairly “moderated” or “highly-restricted” Members, I look forward to your constructive response.
Sincerely,
Your Disillusioned (probationary) Group Owner
In technical terms: ouch!
Have to say, I would not have expected that type of response from LI though.
One of the “other” blue companies closed me out, and never bothered to remove my ‘flag’ although I got back in the system and did everything I could to clean anything that might have triggered something. I never even knew what triggered the flag because they list everything as a potential cause and customer service for private side is mainly handled by an autobot… you get into a loop of no use.
That was the moment I realized I would never invest in social media more than I absolutely had to what comes to the monetary side. If I was turned down, and couldn’t get back on with moderate effort, so be it. As a result, I discarded my personal plan to extend to any group management or commercial use, and instead continued to use all platforms as an end-user. Not exactly the digital triumph I had hoped for in my vision.
Appreciate your input here, Maria. It was the above experience portrayed by many that provided the incentive us to finally open our New Café – completely free of the LinkedIn issues, clutter, spam, promos, etc., allowing us to all return to pure engagement without all the noise. Ps. For those following this thread, we invite you to join our new NGAGE CAFÉ here: https://ngagecafe.mn.co/share/4yehgxJ_YlX9AS1f?utm_source=manual
I fully appreciate that 🙂 Great to have the NGAGE CAFÈ, and I warmly recommend it!
It is disturbing how fast social media platforms are integrating and turning into ‘big bug grinders’. The idea of “social” is disappearing from mainstream – media remains.
Social exists, as it always has, in smaller communities and tribes, good old networking. Youth today moves from platform to platform based on the tribal waves, I hope they grow up to be different.
Dennis you pegged it I feel most people who are SWAMed are reluctant to do or say anything. It is a very intimidating attack on people who for the most part are careful to follow the rules. It is a shock when the blue box shows up and your post is queued.
I do business with a good deal of Arab and Asian clients and very often they are hit with a PM and completely taken by surprise and they are afraid to try and do anything about it or even ask questions. Many say they get hit with a PM every time they post no mater how carefully they word the posting.
I think SWAM has become the weapon of choice for trolls, bigots, cyber bullies, stalkers and anyone else that is entertained by causing problems for others or angered by anyone who disagrees with them or they may just do it to harass a competitor .
LinkedIn is using a nuclear strike to punish people who may have done some crime like accidently pressing the “Post” button twice and giving use of this weapon to anyone who wants to use it for any or no reason.
You are right on target here Steve. See the next Chapter in my Article here, as the saga continues: https://bizcatalyst360.com/are-you-linkedin-or-locked-out-%C2%AD-the-final-chapter/
I never heard any of this stuff…. Is this prevalent on Linkedin??? I purposely am not ion any iof the other sites … Where u heard these issues exist ?? What’s the story Dennus Pitocco??
Dennis I thought I had some good LinkedIn support stories Wow this article is amazing you are the master! Keep up the great work I think you may just have the qualities to get the first look at the man behind the LinkedIn curtain. Bravo
Thank you Steve –
Far
too many professionals across Linkedin have been “victimized” by the
dreaded “blue moderation warning,” amongst other technical glitches
and less than helpful Customer Support. Amongst feedback received to date is an
alarming number of professionals whom are reluctant to “speak up” for
fear of some form of reprisal by Linkedin. Yet another sad commentary, indeed –
but certainly not one that will impact our resolve to “soldier on”
for the good of the overall community…
About a month ago I took part in a discussion in a group where two people took exception to my points of view…..(which I honestly don’t mind because it wouldn’t be much of a conversation if everybody agreed with me, now would it??).
Anyway, I responded to the points that these people (who I believed were actually paid trolls) and when I did, I got the blue box of moderation death.
I reached out to Linked In to find out why I was being sanctioned and was told that they couldn’t do anything about it, that I had to work with the group owner…which I did and upon his reading my posts, he immediately reestablished my posting rights. Which was fine for his group, but had no effect upon any of my other groups which I had apparently also been sanctioned in.
When I reached back out to Linked In pointing this out, there response was to simply wait for a couple of weeks and it should go away….which it did, but left me with the feeling that they could have and should have addressed this stupid policy.
I’m not a “power user” in any respect and I can only imagine how frustrated you must be?? Please keep the pressure up on Linked In because they really do need to correct this situation!
Bob “The Clean Energy Guy” Mitchell
Thanks for sharing your experience here Bob. And be assured that I and we have not wavered in our quest to capture Linkedin’s attention….
A blue box came up when I was reading your open letter, I am only in linkedin and very partial involvement in Google+ the blue box brings up something called Pinterest – never ever on something with that name! What’s this I don’t do spam and only blog three times ever????
Dennis a very well written piece which captures the hassles of dealing with LinkedIn now. You are right about the “dreaded blue box”, lack of customer service, trying to force you to only link appropriately while at the same time forcing other connections and groups (which are of no interest and do not fit your profile) down your throat.
It’s time for an overhaul and it’s time to listen to your customers who can and will leave for the next up and coming site….and there will be one. Or worse, you will keep members who do not post, read or participate and I see that happening now especially in many groups where the discussion are completely self serving.
Thank you for sharing your perspectives here Alanea. The “hassles” continue unabated. As does the unfortunate lack of genuine “support” from Customer “Support…”
Indeed John – you’ve reached the stage of frustration that I – and so many others have… and despite our good-faith efforts, Linkedin “Customer Support” is anything but supportive…
Again, after 3 weeks of calm and limited shared messages and discussions initiated by me, I find the moderating block reappearing.
Makes one wonder what to do – care about linkedin or simply do not participate?
Thanks Adele – I joined this particular Group many months ago, and aside from being in “good company” with others victimized by SWAM, didn’t capture any realistic solutions.. We will persevere, though!
There is now a growing support group on LinkedIn for those who’ve been SWAMed — see SWAM (Site Wide Auto Moderation) Support – A SPAM Free Group.
Best guess. Your log in credentials got captured when sharing from an unscrupulous/unsecured site, cellphone, or wifi access. Scraping data from LinkedIn seems to be a rising trend.
If you haven’t already, would recommend changing your password.
Good luck with it.
Regards,
Russ Ashman
Thanks for your advice here Russ. We’ve confirmed beyond any doubt that my credentials were not compromised – hence; moving the ball back into Linkedin’s court…
I made a comment and it was not posted; typical.
I have had the same problem since April, to two
groups I am the manager and can’t post, as well
as to groups where I have automatic postings that
don’t get posted. The managers try to straighten
it out but get frustrated. I just wrote a letter to the CEO outlining my frustration, and suggest others do the same as we are not reaching the right person to correct this problem. Let the
manager tell you, or let the manager delete you…
Jeff Weiner, CE0
Linkedin.com Corporate Office Headquarters HQ:
2029 Stierlin Court
Mountain View, CA 94043 USA
I’ve been moderated multiple times and have reached the point of either quitting all the groups I’ve belonged to, or just not posting AT ALL any further. I’m not selling anything and I try to make value-added posts. Apparently the overseers at LinkedIn don’t believe my intentions, much as they’ve caused Dennis trouble. My guess is that they don’t have adequate staff to actually investigate all these alleged “misuses” and are simply falling back on an archaic set of rules to justify suspending accounts. I’m sure there are many people who DO abuse the system and are simply spammers but I have a hard time believing it’s a majority and certainly not most group leaders.
Networking (and the world!) existed before LinkedIn and it will continue to exist after the platform has ceased being useful.
Appears as though you are yet another “victim” of the Linked SWAM. Appreciate your comments here Kirk, and your closing sentence sums it up quite well!
I am now being moderated for the third time, I do not know WHY ? If a group manager is not happy with my posts, why not inform me direct or for LinkedIn to inform me before the dreaded blue sign. If I am told then I will stop my posts on there group or even leave the group and all will be happy. I also can not see why one group manager can flag me and it stops me posting with other groups who are happy with my posts.
Oh! I am also banned from making any new contacts unless I know the email address of the person I wish to make contact with. Again I do not feel I have done anything wrong as please tell me hand on heart who knows all who they wish to connect with.
Your experience is consistent with far too many Members Henry – thanks for sharing it here.
Hmmm,
Have just found out I have been moderated, absolutely no idea why. Would be good to at least receive a mail, with the post that was deemed suspect. I guess I just have to wait until this passes and then see if it happens again.
Disappointing indeed Janice, but as presented within my above Article, you are in good company here… Thanks for joining this important discussion.
Appreciate your comments here John, but it is not “our program” but rather Linkedin’s that you should be addressing here! We, like you are simply Members seeking enhancements to their approach to Customer Support…
I am finding it past the point of worthwhile being a member, the value of the different tiers of communication with others works against it being a useful tool. Seems to be more about Linkedin than it being an easy tool to use.
This week I am reviewing the value to my business since signing up and if it is worth continuing. Groups I wanted to join never get back to me, and that really is opposite of why I signed on. Your entire program should be re written for easier use.
You are indeed correct Bob. Any Member of any Group can “flag” a comment, which will ultimately (based on the number of flag’s) remove it and relay it to the Group Manager/Moderator for review and approval or deletion. And there are no limits to the number of comments that a Member can flag. However, a disciplined Group Manager/Owner should also recognize unsubstantiated/nuisance “flagging” and simply take action to warn/remove such a Members.
All good questions Bob – thanks for reaching out!
Dennis, thanks for your efforts.
While reading a comment I inadvertently clicked the Flag button but unclicked it immediately.
If I am not mistaken, a single member can anonymously flag as many comments as they wish.
Are members limited in the number comments that they can flag in an hour, day, week, month, or year?
Interesting Story Dennis but expected results. Social Media websites cannot afford to have a single poster become too powerful on their websites. I am a “free” member and as a “free” member, I find my inquiries over the past three years have become more and more restricted. I have never asked anyone in my substantial personal Mortgage Banking Database to join LI nor have I ever responded to multiple requests to link to my email database. As more and more industry specific business media sites open, LI will lose its appeal and with a stock price drop of 6.42% in the past 12 months vs a FB 83% price appreciation, their best successes may be in their rear view mirror
Thanks for taking the time to share your insights here Tom. And yes, the results were indeed “expected.” One would presume though, that with the amount of traffic and active Membership we (large) Group Members bring to the table for Linkedin (setting a great foundation for their advertising revenue), that a dedicated Customer Support Channel would be made available to curb the frustration, etc. Most surprising of all was their desire to simply “cease any further discussion” rather than collaborate towards a mutually-satisfying resolution. Seems to me it’s a touch of arrogance surfacing – likely coupled with the “Peter Principle?”
I guess I am doing great with the blue box problem I only get to see it, when I post to a group.
In other words, it doesn’t matter if I post to my groups, or a group I manage for someone else the blue box arrives by the end of the day. It sticks around for 5 to 10 days holding my posts hostage finally releasing them once the topic is no longer trending or fresh.
Is someone stopping freedom of the speech? Wait, where is LinkedIn located, maybe that’s it. Doubtful.
Choosing to post or comment within a group I do not own or manage can restrict me immediately. It gets worse. [Yes, I am relevant and not spamming].
Writing to the owners only results in an email back saying, they haven’t ‘managed’ their group… ever! Often they are surprised that groups need management. I am astonished how well some of these groups do without any committed leadership and how large the membership.
It’s kind of like a space ship drifting in space without a caption yet it’s going somewhere, maybe.
Dennis, could it be you remained ‘signed-in’ in the USA while traveling. Just imagine you forgot to turn off the computer somewhere in your home or an old iPad left behind intentionally, was still logged in while you traveled. God forbid you sign in once there.
I leave my 2 iPads, 2 smartphones, 2 desktops, and 1 laptop all signed in to LinkedIn; oh and my iPod Touch too.
I guess it’s time to make sure we accept the blue box much like group owners who have no idea they should take a responsible step in managing a group.
I wouldn’t write them again if you’ve been threatened. They operate on fear-based management; I know the feeling having experienced it too.
Appreciate your perspectives here Deb. Sounds as though the “blue box” has become “the norm” on your end, although one than you’ve learned to accept or at least tolerate given the lack of alternatives. I wish it was as simply as leaving my equipment signed in when I’m out of the country, it’s simply not the case (I’m typically away for a month plus at a time, and be assured that all equipment is shut down as a matter of practice). And much to everyone’s surprise, I have one Desktop and one Laptop… period. The Desktop is turned off when I’m away and the laptop is with me. No Ipads or smartphones for me.
Beyond that Deb, there exists zero reason (other than with this Open Letter) to write to Linkedin Customer Support again, as there’s little reason to believe that it would make a difference based on the many experiences I’ve described here.
Thanks for joining this important discussion Jean… Your experience is shared by many…Sad commentary for Linkedin, particularly when good folks (like you) leave Groups our of frustration..
Dennis, I too, have been locked out of several groups, the issue was never resolved even after contacting the administrator of the groups. Eventually, I just quit those groups; there was no other choice for me. I also got the same responses from LinkedIn. Sounds like they have folks that just answer at the help desk and copy and paste from a formed response. Sad….
My compliments to Dennis for his very clearly stated assessment of a serious and growing challenge facing LinkedIn and other social media services that expect and need user feedback and recommendations.
This LinkedIn moderation action has happened twice to me in the last few weeks. My responses from the HELP desk basically mirrors what was explained above. Their recommendation that I contact the groups owners where my submissions or comments were spammed (or whatever the term is) was followed.
I contacted these owners (including Dennis as one of his groups was included) and not one of them knew anything about my contributions as being problems. Several of the owners asked me to continue to contribute, as they viewed me as a major supporter of their group and my discussions often generated lively dialogues.
LinkedIn has moved past its honeymoon phase of the IPO launch and needs to address these and other issues. When someone that disagrees with, is a jealous competitor or perhaps simply dislikes a contributor, is allowed to initiate these actions, the solid contributors to LinkedIn will say ENOUGH , and go elsewhere.
I already see a decline in quality in many group discussions. At the same time, I see many more blatant promotions and pyramid marketing items being disguised as discussions, which lessens the intent and effectiveness of Linked In.
As a group owner, there are issues on moderation that the HELP desk advises that engineering has been aware of for months. That is not much of a response, nor is the one that does not deal with the question of why an invitation to connect I received that I accepted (now up to 6 times) keeps reappearing.
LinkedIn can be a unique and valuable resource and I have been recommending the past 18 months in our nationwide training classes for business owners and senior managers.
My enthusiasm is a bit lessened these days and it will be revealing to see how LinkedIn responds to Dennis’ insights on this issue, the legitimate additional ones mentioned by Ken Vincent and others already discussed.
LinkedIn – we await your solutions!
i n
As a valued long-time Member of our Groups and as a fellow Group Owner, your comments are very much appreciated John, as the bring substantial credibility and perspective to both the value of Linkedin and the challenges. Thank you for stepping up on behalf of the entire Linkedin Community!
Well said Dennis! I feel your pain with this lack of “customer service” from LinkedIn as I was put in the “blue penalty box” recently but have no idea why. Was ok for a week or so afterwards and am now “back in again” which is very frustrating. I manage 3 LinkedIn groups and am a member of 30+ other groups and to the best of my knowledge abide by best practices and rules posted by LinkedIn and group managers. While doubtful, I hope that LinkedIn will improve procedures to better manage this matter.
Thanks Eric! Not surprised that you whom has simply done a remarkable job of building and presiding over one of our fastest professional Groups are also experiencing the dreaded “blue moderation box.” We all do our very best to diligently follow not only our Group Rules but standards well beyond those established by Linkedin – all of which seems to be ignored by their Customer Support team…
Having spent most of my adult life in the hospitality industry, I am stunned at the lack of “customer” care shown by Linkedin. Appalling.
When I had problems on another site due to someone clicking on one of my posts as unacceptable (perhaps by accident, I got a similar high handed response. That act on one site, put me in a monitor status on several sites. In effect they said it wasn’t their problem and I should go to the group owner of every site that had me on a monitor list and ask them to release me. My answer was to just drop out of any sites where I had a problem.
More recently I have had problems with batched emails from Linkedin. Instead of getting a few at a time I get a dump in mid-morning and again in late afternoon. Getting 20-50 emails at a time is simply not conducive to reading and responding to them. The end result is I just trash most of them.
Appreciate your thoughtful comments as always Ken. Your experience illustrates my mention of the “expanding list” of never-ending Linkedin issues. While we are collectively willing to be patient while Linkedin deals with growth challenges, our patience disappears upon facing the relative level of indifference coming from their “Customer Support” team.