Imagine a guest in your home whom you've made every effort to be
courteous and respectful to - watching your every move – with
jaundiced eyes - for 3 years.

Imagine that in the last year the guest continued to stay in your home
but stopped communicating with you – though there is much, much, much
to communicate about.

Even if the guest in your home doesn't think you, as host, are worthy
of a conversation, such a silent guest can make your own home seem
inhospitable to you, the owner. Imagine how creepy that would be and
what it does to your home environment…

Since March 16, 2005, at least 10 Linkedin employees, including
Linkedin's Founders, have voluntarily made themselves my house guests
at www.MyLinkedinPowerForum.com*

That's 99.999% of the lifespan of MyLinkedinPowerForum.com.

My Linkedin house guests invited themselves. None received an
invitation from me.

Over the past 3 years of developing MyLinkedinPowerForum.com, when
Linkedin employees would join, I'd rapidly give them permission to
post unmoderated messages to to MyLinkedinPowerForum.com and any other
of my groups I was aware they'd joined. Several Linkedin employees
readily availed themselves of the opportunity to post unmoderated
messages to MyLinkedinPowerForum.com.

As you might imagine, over the past 3 years, there's been a lot of
communication within the house I call MyLinkedinPowerForum.com –
almost 40,000 messages – most of which were respectful of my house
guests – some, of course, may have been a bit challenging for Linkedin
to listen to.

As their host on My Linkedin Power Forum, it had always been my
preference and, indeed, my intention to be respectful and hospitable
to the Founders and to the employees of the company on whose corporate
name My Linkedin Power Forum was derivatively conceived.

For the most part, historically, the house guests have been tolerable
– especially considering that the guests once made contributions to
the conversational welfare of the household – no financial
contributions, no structural, or maintenance contributions, however.
The guests' contributions were exclusively conversational,
informational. My Linkedin guests contributed to conversations
centered on their own primary concerns. Not infrequently, Linkedin
Corporation would make weekly announcements on Friday nights about
upgrading its own home at Linkedin.com

Thousands of members of MyLinkedinPowerForum.com found many of those
updates informative and some would contribute their own feedback about
the Linkedin upgrades. (See the 40,000 messages in the archives for
MyLinkedinPowerForum.com:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyLinkedinPowerForum/messages**** )

Because within the past year, Linkedin Corporation has shown itself to
be completely indifferent to MyLinkedinPowerForum.com in general and
to me, personally, I think it only appropriate to reciprocate in "the
Linkedin manner". Meaning: I'm clear that Linkedin's success or
failure has nothing to do with MyLinkedinPowerForum.com, in general,
nor with me, personally.

Further, Linkedin, my house guest, has taken to a vow of silence over
the past year or so.

Linkedin's silence leads to this most fundamental question: What good
is a house guest who won't speak to you?

Finally, Linkedin, my house guest not only has taken to its vow of
silence with respect to me and my other guests, since September 27,
2007, Linkedin has been hanging the issue of its vaunted trademark and
indecipherable group and photo policies over our heads like the
proverbial Sword of Damocles.

One shouldn't feel that uneasy in ones own home.

And, too, Linkedin has unilaterally made decisions to force me to
change the group name and icon for My Linkedin Power Forum on
Linkedin, though they okayed BOTH as an "official" Linkedin group on
July 15, 2005. (Though it was costly to make such an inordinate
amount of changes, this one I can understand.)

Linkedin has unilaterally made a decision to take down an icon for my
photo. No, "Hey, Vincent! You can't have an icon on Linkedin!'

Linkedin has unilaterally suspended my group called "Keep STRONG", one
of the most innocuous, non-threatening groups I've ever created –

Here's the heart of the matter about Linkedin's decision regarding
"Keep STRONG": its rationale for suspending the group makes NO SENSE.
If Linkedin followed its own rules and applied them without
discrimination to all other groups equally, it would have THOUSANDS
FEWER GROUPS than it now has. If Linkedin followed the guidelines it
used to justify suspending "Keep STRONG", Linkedin would have to
suspend other groups of mine which they formerly approved – groups
such as "The Encouragement Engine" and "The Science Of Encouragement"
and "Pursuing Relentless Optimism" and "Attractionese" and
"Linkonomics" and "Yearnalism" and "Linking And The Secret" and "The
Biggest Business In The World" and "Linking Eyes To Find Missing Children"

Linkedin has made all its decisions without discussion, without phone
calls, without advanced warning via email, without a hint, without a
clue...

All with suddenness.
All with maddening inconsistency.

Inconsistency is infectious. Those of us trying to follow Linkedin's
lead have, ourselves, seemed inconsistent.

It is also my belief that Linkedin has sent or authorized to be sent a
letter to me claiming that I am intentionally violating their
trademark/brand name in using the domain GetLinkedin.info. (That
letter indicated that I was abusing Linkedin's trademark with the logo
I have on the site associated with the URL for GetLinkedin.info.
Apparently, the author of that letter wasn't aware that though I
conceived the logo, Linkedin Corporation rendered the logo, sent it to
me, and permitted me to use it for My Linkedin Power Forum *on*
Linkedin.com starting on July 15, 2005 and lasting through about
September 27, 2007. Again, though I conceived the logo, Linkedin
rendered the logo. To the unbiased, this should be proof positive
that not only has Linkedin been aware of my using the logo for
MyLinkedinPowerForum.com but, indeed, they were complicit in helping
me to create and use the logo which shows at MyLinkedinPowerForum.com,
GetLinkedin.info, and PromotionPromotionPromotion.com. The logo in
question was used by My Linkedin Power Forum for more than 2 years in
the groups section directly on Linkedin.com

I've reached out.

I've waited.

I've been patient.

I've heard nothing – for more than half a year…

Linkedin's last phone call to me was March 23, 2007 - an impossible
date to forget.

Many others have told me that they, too, have reached out, have
waited, have been patient, and have heard nothing from Linkedin.
Some surprising, long-time supporters have told me that they've also
been cut off of Linkedin's loop.

Certainly, Linkedin deserves to have time to make itself into whatever
it's making itself in to – I hope and pray it's something really good
– something worthy of the alienation grassroots supporters have been
subjected to – but, I'm convinced that not one single Linkedin
employee – Founders included – would like to be subjected to the same
silence some of Linkedin's former evangelists have been subjected to.

I choose to no longer wait for my mute house guest(s).

And, too, please bear in mind that there are other matters in my
relationship with Linkedin coloring my decision to no longer wait for
my mute house guests. They are too numerous to fully go into in this
letter but, a couple of examples:
1. Linkedin has questioned certain posts I made on
MyLinkedinPowerForum.com. For example, in that
MyLinkedinPowerForum.com is based on Yahoo Groups, when I made an
announcement regarding a new Yahoo service, I was asked by one of the
Linkedin Founders why I posted something about Yahoo on a
Linkedin-centric forum. Now here's the interesting thing about that
particular question: I only found out about that Yahoo service because
the very Linkedin person who questioned me about it sent me an
invitation to join him ON that Yahoo service! I'd never even heard of
that Yahoo service until I received an invitation from Linkedin's
Co-Founder. So, I was dumbfounded when I got his email questioning
why I'd posted something about Yahoo on my Linkedin-centric group
which is HOUSED ON YAHOO GROUPS! Please think about that and let it
soak in for a moment.

2. Also, I was questioned about the content of member posts on
MyLinkedinPowerForum.com. For example: One person who'd been
highlighted on Linkedin *by* Linkedin, joined MyLinkedinPowerForum.com
and posted about enjoying Linkedin AND one of its primary competitors
at the same time. Not only was I questioned about that particular
post, Linkedin informed me that they were removing this person as an
example of the type of person they wanted to highlight. Because this
member had deigned to blog about a Linkedin competitor, that person
instantly became persona non grata to Linkedin. They'd done nothing
wrong, nothing egregious – other than complimenting the merits of one
of Linkedin's competitors. (I never told this person about that
behind the scenes conversation.) Of course, this left me feeling
constricted about what members could and could not post and what I
could and could not do with my own little grassroots discussion group.
This questioning indicated that I'd have to pay a lot more attention
to member posts than I'd originally thought when I conceived of
MyLinkedinPowerForum.com back in 2005. It proved to be exhaustingly
time consuming. So, I balked at adhering to Linkedin's guidelines.

Thus, after investing thousands upon thousands upon thousands of
uncompensated hours championing Linkedin and answering the questions
of thousands of Linkedin users, I must say that even were every Social
Network Analyst, every Ivy League School, every law firm, every
Journalist in the world, every Venture Capitalist under heaven's sun,
every Fortune 500 Company, every one of Linkedin's 21,000,000 members
were to take Linkedin's side in this matter, today, Memorial Day, May
26, 2008, I am evicting Linkedin from MyLinkedinPowerForum.com

Some may say that this is unduly harsh and that I may be overreacting
by taking such a dramatic step. But I say "enough is enough". I've
had more than enough to convince me that I no longer want to champion
Linkedin in its current manifestation. Sometimes silence forces us to
take the most dramatic actions available to us. Some of us feel
compelled to take fairly strong, declarative steps to back away from
Linkedin as it goes on to the next phase of its existence. But even
if Linkedin were to become the greatest Internet company in the
history of humanity over the next 1,000 years, I want to focus on
something healthier than on a company which alienates its former
grassroots evangelists the way Linkedin has chosen to do…

Now, I have no expectation that the gesture I make today will have any
measurable impact on Linkedin. My action is not meant for that.
After all, they are more than Goliath and I'm less than David.
Rather, my gesture this Memorial Day is intended as a personal
declaration of independence. And I'm forcing the issue today because
some of the recent gestures Linkedin has been making towards others
and towards me, have left me feeling completely uncomfortable having
Linkedin employees as my guests. And though I still have a free
membership there, I'm starting to be uncomfortable being a guest in
Linkedin's home at Linkedin.com The trust is gone…and likely
irreparably so…

On a completely human level, I must tell you I feel the pain of
evicting Linkedin en masse because there is one Linkedin employee who
seems like a real human being – one who really seems to understand
Linkedin's purported philosophy that "Relationships Matter".**

While Linkedin seems to have an unhealthy distrust of some of its
members, candidly, as it shifts from a small company to a potential
Internet powerhouse, I no longer know how to trust Linkedin… Thus, I
can no longer trust inviting my friends to join me on Linkedin – so, I
don't. And I won't.

Of the hundreds upon hundreds of Linkedin-centric groups I developed
both on and off Linkedin.com, Linkedin Corporation knows of no group
of mine set up to be anti-Linkedin. It's never been my intention to
ever work against Linkedin. It was my exclusive intent to work with
those parts of Linkedin available to me and users like me. (FYI: I've
spent almost 6 months unraveling the Linkedin-centric path of networks
I built over the past 3 years. Most recently, I've changed
LinkedinBusinessDiscussionIndex.blogspot.com to
WhyKeepSTRONG.blogspot.com. This change is meant, specifically, to
memorialize to me the final straw in my relationship with Linkedin.)

Recognizing that some may have thought this day might never arrive,
nonetheless, it's here. It's the day of "the audacity of nope" as in
"Nope, I no longer want Linkedin as my house guests on
MyLinkedinPowerForum.com."

Though I do wish to thank Linkedin for the coffee cup they sent me,
after 3 years of openly marketing My Linkedin Power Forum – as
Linkedin Corporation watched - I will not voluntarily change the name
of MyLinkedinPowerForum.com

Upon the publication of this letter, no known Linkedin employee, Board
Member, nor internal advisor, nor consultant will be a member of
MyLinkedinPowerForum.com

Obviously, there's more to this story. If interested, you may wish
to stay tuned…

--
Keep STRONG!
Vincent Wright
VincentWright.com (My Linkedin Profile)
MyLinkingPowerForum.com (Ning (2,600 members))
MyLinkedinPowerForum.com (Yahoo (8,800 members))
MyLinkedinPowerForum.biz (Linkedin (8,500 members))
MyLinkedinPowerForum.net (Facebook (1,500 members))

*I'm fully aware that key Linkedin personnel may have invested in Ning
and Facebook and myriad other hot Internet properties.
** I have nothing personal against any of Linkedin's employees. This
gesture is meant to emphasize how detestable I think Linkedin's own
practice of networking feels from the end-user perspective.
*** http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyLinkedinPowerForum/message/145
****http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyLinkedinPowerForum/messages