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Comment by mathattack | Hacker News Reader

I upvoted you, but still disagree. (I'm happy everytime someone forces me to clarify what I'm thinking) Here's the general idea... Most everyone else is using it, and you can get better access and knowledge if you use it too.

Before every meeting I have, I look the person up. If I use it, and most of my friends do, I can figure out who we know in common. If I need something from another company and I don't know who to contact, I look at 2nd degree connections for hints.

LinkedIn is in the toolkit of every tech-savvy business person. It can also be a people for engineers who want a good permanent place that non-technical people can find them. Non-technical folks won't look in Github.

Your last point is relevant. Yes, there is a correlation between LinkedIn proponents and Github profiles, but why wall yourself in to a Github only universe?

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Before every meeting I have, I look the person up.

I can't tell you how important this can be, especially for sales meetings where the other participants may not be the kind of people with their own domain names and websites.

absolutely. As a sales tool, it could not be replaced. Being able to find decision makers, or review people's experience before calls and meetings is crucial.

> but why wall yourself in to a Github only universe?

I really don't. I just avoid LinkedIn. My Github profile is the predominant one when you google my name (after the g+ profile because Google is like that), but I maintain profiles on a couple of freelance websites which host relevant work experience. Through those sites and my personal one, I get regularly contacted about prospective employers.

My LinkedIn profile had not brought me a single good offer when I turned it off. I've not felt its loss. I strongly believe a lot of people who "rely" on linkedin only rely on it because they don't realize the alternatives are better.

Independent of the job offer, it can make life more difficult for any non-programmer who you might interact with professionally. Why force them to meet on your terms? Sometimes you don't feel the loss because you don't see it.

Again - this is just respectful disagreement. I appreciate the discussion.

You could reverse that logic to them - if they force you to be on LinkedIn, they are forcing you to meet on their terms.

Appreciate the discussion.

True. Though isn't it better to build bridges rather than raise them?

Not everybody uses LinkedIn for job offers. I use mine to keep a cache of professional contacts that I've met and worked with in previous postings. I also frequently get ping'd by people with very good questions about my somewhat less common field.

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