LinkedInHelp on Twitter

LinkedIn will have to face a lawsuit that alleges it damaged the image of users by repeatedly sending emails to their contacts inviting them to join the social network. PC World, June 13, 2014

Yes, LinkedIn got me. I didn’t intend to but after carefully using LinkedIn for over 10 years (yes sometime in 2005), I wasn’t careful about the pages that are shoved at you *after* you intentionally accept a connection request. As a result the LinkedIn ConnectionBot is still telling people that I want them to join and connect with me. And yes despite the lawsuit described in PC World, the LinkedIn Bot continues to remind them. VIA EMAIL!

The email is From: Paul Jones messages-noreply@linkedin.com so no one could contact me without joining LinkedIn!

Normally, I accept a connection after checking to make sure that I actually know, have met, or plan to meet or do business with someone or that they are a former student or colleague. Then I skip the all the suggestions pages by clicking on the LinkedIn log or just close the browser tab.

I’m not sure how I acted differently last week. The evidence is showing that I somehow agreed to give LinkedIn access to an old and long unused email contacts list. Then I had somehow in the same mouse click allowed LinkIn to invite folks with email addresses currently not registered at their site to join. Many people were already on LinkedIn with a different address. Some never wanted to be on LinkedIn ever. Some did join and connect as LinkedIn hoped they would.

LinkedIn doesn’t not offer an undo or remove or stop or pause option directly. But by consulting their Help section, I found that not only was I not alone in my misery, but that the answer was hidden in Messages and worse didn’t work for me. Others seemed to see and be able to “withdraw” bot-sent invitations one at a time for thousands of messages! Mine did not show up at all.

I posted on Twitter mentioning @linkedIn and quickly got a response. I went to the link suggested and filled in a Help Request, but nearly a week later friends are still on my case as the second string of reminders is hitting their Inboxes.

Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. #nomail and possibly #noLinkedIn