I also think you’re “right”.

For me the questions are what they are: questions. And questions in real life can be anything.

About the expert discussion: maybe LinkedIn should have different categories of questions. One of them could be “industry expertise questions” or “professional expertise questions” which are more facts based. Then it might be easier to label people as experts (of course it is still easier because the same remarks still apply).

But anyway, I really like the functionality that LinkedIn has been adding to improve interaction between members. Especially the discussions in the groups.

Have a great networking day !

Jan

Founder of Networking Coach (http://www.networking-coach.com)

I am in complete agreement with you. I have not ever even chosen someone as an “expert” as to the answer they gave to one of my questions! I assume if they know anything, at least enough to feel comfortable responding, then they already are an expert.

I would also much rather have a recommendation or more than been seen as an “expert”. A recommendation says someone has worked with me, known me, or has been impressed with what I have done or do. THAT speaks volumes more to me, and I believe to the public, than whether they are considered “experts”.

So opinion questions are fine, and clearly acceptable to LinkedIn.

Regarding expertise, I prefer the fact that answers are rated by the person who asked the question, not by the crowd. Crowds can do a lot of things right, but they can do a lot of things wrong. What no one in the crowd can determine is which answer was most helpful to the asker.

What I hope anyone with half a brain would realize, though, is that the number of “best answers” a person has received has very little correlation to their expertise, but is more about their activity level on LinkedIn Answers.

For example, several people have discovered that a lot of the questions that people post in the Using LinkedIn category are already answered in the FAQ and can be answered by simply posting a link or copy/pasting, and the first person to answer usually receives the “best answer” award (not much point in anyone else even responding, usually). Does that mean you know more about how to use LinkedIn strategically for business? Or just that you have a lot of time on your hands to do some pretty basic work? Or maybe you’re paying someone in India a couple of bucks a day to do it for you to boost your profile! (I’ve actually thought about doing that, at least as an experiment)

You suggest recommendations as a better alternative for determining expertise. Maybe so, but let’s face it, the person recommending someone could be biased, or a dimwit, or in some cases, not even know the person — at least not as an actual customer or business associate. I’ve had dozens of people who I actually know ask me for recommendations on some position, but I don’t know them in that context — I can’t and won’t provide an endorsement, but I’ve seen lots of people do it.

The real algorithms for determining expertise are way more complex than LinkedIn is going to take on. Companies like Autonomy and Tacit have been working on those algorithms for years. As long as people recognize LinkedIn’s algorithms for what they are, no harm done.