[LINK] Why Was I Banned from LinkedIn?

[Tom Worthington]

A few days ago I LinkedIn.com blocked my access, due to complaints from 
members that I "... sent or posted unsolicited messages via groups that 
appear to be phishing, spam, or abusive in nature ...". However, in a 
Kafkaesque twist, the complainants, messages and groups were not 
identified. Instead I had to agree to "... adhere to the LinkedIn User 
Agreement and Privacy Policy from this day forward", thus admitting my 
guilt, without knowing what it was that I was supposed to have done.

As well as blocking access to sending positing to discussion groups and 
administering the groups I run, my LinkedIn profile was also blocked. As 
I was blocked, I could not appeal to other LinkedIn members for support, 
or even to ask what I had done wrong.

So I agreed to LinkedIn terms. I was admonished to "... make sure any 
links and comments you post are appropriate for the Group ...", still 
without saying what group or what had been inappropriate. My access and 
profile were then restored: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomworthington

As I still don't know what it was I said to cause offense, or in which 
group I said it, this has made me wary of posting anything to any 
LinkedIn group on any topic. I have resigned from most of the LinkedIn 
groups I was was a member of, to prevent accidentally posting something 
which may give offense and might get me banned. Also I found myself 
avoiding responding to, or even looking at, postings in non-LinkedIn 
groups, in case there was something I might do wrong there.

Previously I had reported some postings to LinkedIn, usually of the 
"Have your PHD Thesis Written for $10!" variety. I assumed there was a 
process where the poster would be told which posting was objected to and 
why. But this is not the case, instead you just find yourself banned.

It is worrying to think of the power which those administering such 
social media services have. A corporation, or government, could impose 
very effective social control by these means.


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
The Higher Education Whisperer http://blog.highereducationwhisperer.com/
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards
Legislation

Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Research School of Computer Science,
Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/