Ask HN: Valuing Social Networks

Like many others here, I have a LinkedIn account. Recruiters at my company want to join my network to generate leads. If I thought someone was a good choice to bring in, I’d refer them myself and get the employee referral spiff. By opening it up to someone else, I’m giving up that spiff for free.

This is a very tangible case in which personal data has clear monetary worth.

Has anyone thought up a model where my economic incentives and my employer’s are more aligned? If I have equity, the impact of successful hires on that equity needs to be pretty large to equal the referral spiff.

Of course there is the possibility of unintended or detrimental side effects from the economic results. E.g “bonus” for access could really be “docking” for employees that don’t share.