Comment by corresation | Hacker News Reader

Comment by corresation | Hacker News Reader

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If she had stopped at "Your invite to connect is inappropriate, beneficial only to you, and tacky" we wouldn't have even known about it.

Do you actually use LinkedIn? You seem to be assigning a connection with some sort of profound meaning that it simply doesn't have. Indeed, if you follow LinkedIn's standard user flow, it will generate connection invites for anyone who you've ever corresponded with and saved as a contact on your email platform. If you get invites that you don't want to reciprocate, you ignore them.

And isn't it glorious irony that someone in the business of networking complains about someone trying to network?

Add that LinkedIn allows you to restrict who can even send you invites (which this woman didn't use), and who can see your connections (which is apparently the grave concern here).

Sorry, this woman was obviously having a very bad day, with a strange hint that they may feel threatened by youth, and decided to explode on a stranger -- in a very inappropriate and tacky way. There is nothing "right" about their action.

Yes, to answer your question, I do use LinkedIn. But I am picky about who I network with, because I feel that my connections also reflect upon me. If I wanted to do otherwise, I'd use Facebook.

The response from the woman in question went too far, and it isn't too hard to draw the conclusion that she probably shouldn't be in a job involving networking if she has that reaction.... but it doesn't change the fact that the connection requestor was looking to get something for nothing, and her subsequent activity to mob-shame the other is equally disgusting.

Actually, as far as I've read, both connection requestors who received this type of treatment tried to add her so that she could see their profiles. The data they sent to join the job board is fairly limited (doesn't include a resume) so both individuals felt that allowing her to see their profiles could be beneficial, not trying to "farm" this woman's connections for jobs. They're trying to join the job board to find jobs.

If a job board exists in a forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

This woman apparently has influence and persuasion because of her membership. By trying to connect, this young woman was saying "you are important and I want to connect with you". That is a two way street, and it is not fair to say "something for nothing".

As to the public shaming, we are all accountable for our words and actions, particularly when we engage in discriminatory behaviors (the whole bitter "your generation" bit). There is nothing disgusting about this so-called public shaming (note that it was in result of someone engaging in ageism and then basically declaring the person shut out, celebrating their monopoly).

The Job Board operator could have simply hid their connections if they really feel a great burden for a connection invite, and their grievous fear that everyone was trying to usurp their network (again, we come to the "Feeling threatened" bit) would be allayed.

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