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I’ve long been a fan of advisors using LinkedIn judiciously to network among colleagues, clients and potential resource providers (such as yours truly). But late last month LinkedIn released a shiny new enhancement – Endorsements — that is not the “feature” they claimed it was, at least not for the advisor community.
My first-ever blog in April 2009, The LinkedIn Passive Advisor, enthusiastically endorsed using LinkedIn. Everything I said then, I’d say all over again. It’s still an important tool that I recommend you use regularly. But it also demands continued, judicious caution as you apply it in your regulated world.
LinkedIn one-click endorsements: “Feature” or “Bug”?
In a September 24 blog post, Introducing Endorsements, LinkedIn proudly announced its newest feature – the ability for your connections to endorse your listed skills and expertise with a single click.
Back when I worked in the tech industry (as a writer/editor for a library software automation company), we used to joke among ourselves that newly detected software bugs were actually just new “features” for which we’d not yet found a market. For advisors, the reverse has taken place: The LinkedIn Endorsements “feature” is more properly viewed as a “bug” for advisors – one that could bite you in the regulatory behind without careful management.
Take notice! This is new and different
Most advisors have long understood that it’s important to decline any LinkedIn recommendations that well-meaning individuals may send you. There are many regulatory gray areas in social media, but LinkedIn recommendations are not one of them – they are, unambiguously, a bad idea.
Now, it will behoove you to be on the same lookout for contacts who may proactively endorse your skills and expertise listings; you need to hide these from public view as well.
Am I sure? I am no compliance attorney, but I posed the question to a friend of mine who is. “I will be advising firms that they should be very, very careful with this,” he said. “Depending on the facts and circumstances, they should be hiding these endorsements, particularly in light of the SEC’s risk alert on social media.”
I also asked a colleague, social media strategist Stephanie Sammons of Wired Advisor, what she thought about this new release. “Financial advisors will need to be very careful about the new LinkedIn endorsements feature,” she agreed. “There is really no way around this being an implied testimonial. Unfortunately, LinkedIn will prompt anyone who views your profile to provide an endorsement based upon the skills you have listed. Make sure you monitor your profile daily and hide any endorsements!”
