Yes, it's Cinco de Mayo, and LinkedIn turns 20 today.
LinkedIn was founded in December 2002, and the website went live on May 5th, 2003.
In August 2004, LinkedIn reached 1 million users.
I don't remember exactly when I joined LinkedIn, but I do know it was after I received an invitation from a friend (remember when communities used to require an invitation to join?).
Do you remember when LinkedIn shared our member number in the URL?
How about LinkedIn Pulse?
We used to get thousands of views when we posted content on Pulse.
LinkedIn has a habit of killing things that work really well.
I bet you remember the days when LinkedIn Groups had real conversations.
Today, you could offer someone a $100 bill if they replied to your Group post and you'd hear nothing but crickets.
One of my favorite memories is LinkedIn Answers.
You could post questions about any topic, and lots of people would answer you.
When you answered questions, you received points and could move up the leaderboard, which was located on the LinkedIn home page.
One LinkedIn "expert" was always at the top of the leaderboard because she would answer 300-400 questions a day with one-word answers.
LinkedIn is a different animal today.
People are lazy and use automation to blast 100 invitations a week with a soft sales pitch.
If you know the secret, you can send a lot more invitations each week.
Once you connect, your new connection opens the floodgates with a series of sales pitches.
In the old days, our professional network was our Rolodex.
You had to earn a spot in my Rolodex.
If you earned my respect, your business card would go into my Rolodex and we did business together for years.
Today, it feels like people are more interested in making one sale instead of building a long-term relationship with repeat sales and referrals.
I could continue down memory lane, but I would rather hear your best memories of LinkedIn.
Hit reply and tell me your favorite LinkedIn memories.
