How Microsoft’s LinkedIn acquisition may create unwelcome connectivity
Say you’re writing an article about effective business networking when a character pops up on your screen. He tells you that on LinkedIn, there are a number of experts on networking who might have useful ideas for you and offers to connect you to them. How will you react? Delight that a new resource is available to help you tap into the latest expertise? Or get irritated about this intrusion into your writing flow?
This scenario is not science fiction. Microsoft just acquired LinkedIn, and they are already talking about developing this kind of connectivity. And think about what it might mean from the other side — constant requests to connect or to comment on you current work or past workplaces. How discoverable is too discoverable?
The tension between connectivity and solitude is constant in our lives. I remember when I first heard about cell phones. My immediate reaction was, “Why on earth would I want to be constantly available?” In the olden days, if I was out of reach of my landline, I was free from interruptions, demands, and sales pitches. But the truth is, I have come to treasure my smart phone. Although in some ways it is intrusive, in other ways it is liberating.
The challenge is how to minimize the intrusion and maximize the liberation. The designers of new connectivity products and services need to build in choices for their users. And as users, we have to develop the discipline to disconnect. On a recent vacation to Sicily, I shut off my phone for a week. My assistant knew how to reach me in an emergency, but I was liberated from constantly checking my phone. As a result, I actually experienced being in Sicily.
My guess is that the first time the dude pops up to tell me about LinkedIn experts, I will swear and disconnect him — much like the fate of Microsoft’s failed Clippy experiment. But over time, who knows? It may be great to tap into the best thinking of the top experts in the world. And we will all continue to navigate that tricky path between connectivity and solitude.
